Okkervil River's new online game brings spooky graveyards back to indie rock

Now here's how you sell a record in 2013: make it a video game. Will Sheff's already got the whole "writing great lyrics and producing outstanding records" thing down to a science, but let's face it, in the age of BitTorrent, such old-fashioned methods just don't sell albums. Thankfully, the Okkervil River frontman is exploring new methods, putting together a browser-based game inspired by PC graphic adventure games of the 80s. Sheff (who incidentally bears a passing resemblance to the hero) co-wrote dialog for the game and performed chiptune versions of tracks from the band's forthcoming LP, The Silver Gymnasium (also, incidentally, the name of the game). That album's set to arrive on September 3rd, and if this morning is any indication, we'll likely be playing the game until right around then.