Roky Erickson with Okkervil River - True Love Cast Out All Evil

From Austin, Texas in 1947 to San Francisco in 1966 and back again in 2010 via the Rusk State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, Roky Erickson has lived a life that few of us could ever conceive of. Now, in 2010, he's crafted his first album in 14 years backed by Austin indie outfit, Okkervil River.

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There are times in everyone's life where everything just tends to fall to shit. Maybe your car breaks down at an intersection. Maybe you get turned down after a job interview that you really wanted. Or maybe you plead insanity to get out of a conviction for drug possession, end up undergoing controversial treatments in the flawed US mental health system, and leave thinking you're an alien for the duration of the 1980's. 

For Roky Erickson, the latter scenario is no exaggeration. Having rose to prominence in the mid to late 60's with Texas band The 13th Floor Elevators, Erickson and his former band-mates have been largely credited as the most influential band of the San Francisco psychedelia movement. After his aforementioned drug arrest and commitment to a hospital for the criminally insane in the early 70's, he went through a long period of true mental illness, exploited by managers and record executives until his younger brother took over as his legal guardian in 2001. Since then, his road to recovery has led him back home to Austin, Texas and has been entirely devoid of formal recordings. That is, until this release, by the name of 'True Love Cast Out All Evil,' strangely, with the backing of seminal Austin indie rockers Okkervil River. 

The story of Roky Erickson is as appealing as they come; intrigue, mental wards, criminal affairs, drugs, everything...it's all there. So when an album gets shopped around via the story behind it's creator, it would be easy to imagine that it mightn't be that great. I mean, the guy was born in 1947 and has been through more shit than any of us could possibly imagine...so how could he possibly come out of all that to make what is, quite possibly, one of the finest albums of the year so far? Is that just a ridiculous claim made because he lived a bizarre life, or is it really that good?

His story certainly draws you in and lends you an array of interpretations for each lyric, growl and stagger; but that's not to say that the fact that this is a Roky Erickson album makes it seem better than it is. On its own merits, it's a truly brilliant record played by some incredibly talented musicians.  Erickson's deep, raspy, southern-meets-mid-western vocal establishes the scene for the album. These are blatant country western vocals - and you can almost feel that frontier atmosphere across the record - but Okkervil River's stunning rock arrangements manage to root that potential for a genre album in something much more modern. Thankfully, Okkervil River haven't attempted to blend in any indie themes; there are Stones-esque rock ballads like that of 'Aint Blues Too Sad' and rollicking Jackson Browne flavoured 70's country-rock in 'Bring Back the Past.'  From the subtle, muted electric guitar underneath his demand for 'true love [to] cast out all evil' to the minimalist piano and rainstorm samples backing his desperate pleas in 'Please, Judge,' every arrangement that Okkervil River ties around Erickson's songs highlight each nuance in his voice, creating an atmosphere of perfect emotion time and time again. 

Not only are the tracks themselves superb, but producer and Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff has crafted the album in remarkable fashion. Tying in grainy, aged recordings of old Erickson recordings from interviews and performances, he casts a sense of history over the album that further enhances the story behind the record. It's just one of many touches that make this album more than just music; it's true art. 

'True Love Cast Out All Evil' is a phenomenal album. It's as much about a startling comeback story by a man who has lived through it all as it is an impeccable record. If you were stuck on a desert island at gunpoint and told that you could only bring a single album from this year that you'd never heard - at gunpoint might I add - then this is the album you should request of your gunman. Or island. Whatever. Just do yourself a dozen favours and listen to this record. I can't even conceive of a situation where this album would disappoint the discerning music listener.