Throughout Okkervil River's in-studio session, frontman Will Sheff keeps breaking into giggles. And if you look closely around the room, you'll see plastic action figures perched on the keyboard or suspended from the mic stand. It's that sense of childlike wonder that Sheff taps into for the band's seventh album, The Silver Gymnasium, a concept album about his nostalgia for growing up in Meriden, New Hampshire in the '80s. It's their most personal album to date, and their most powerful: when Sheff belts out the lyrics to "Stay Young," you believe him. And to cap-off this ode to the eighties, the band bring their synth-driven folk-rock interpretation to a Cyndi Lauper song. Watch their spirited in-studio session below:
Full Performance:
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