My Thoughts on the Jews

They should immediately ex-communicate Joe Lieberman.

But, seriously, yesterday was an exciting day for this lad as I finally got my copy of the new Silver Jews cd "Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea". I had been unable to find it anywhere in northern VA, and while in NYC couldn't find it-not even at the Virgin MegaStore. A record store in Greenwich Village had it on vinyl, but I didn't want to carry it with me to the game up in the Bronx. So I had to fall back on Amazon since Jews are hard to find apparently.

My thoughts: First of all, I think this is my favorite Silver Jews disc since 1997's "The Natural Bridge", an album that is probably one of my top 20 albums of all time. "Natural Bridge" was imbued with a melancholic spirit and genius surreal lyrics ("When the governor's heart fails the state bird falls from its branch"). It was the right album at the right time for me, a soundtrack to a summer of falling in love and exploring the West. Since then I've been pleased, but not completely amazed with the Silver Jews output. "American Water" in 1998 contained one of my all time favorite songs "Smith and Jones Forever" ("When the sun sets on the ghetto all the broken stuff gets cold", "The birds of Virginia are flying within ya', and like background singers they all come in threes"), as well as a few other gems like "Buckingham Rabbit", but the sound was much more rock and less lonely folk than I had come to love with "Natural Bridge" and the previous album which was Ryan and I's sing along favorite on trips to North Carolina's high country. In 2001 came "Bright Flight", a very good album, perhaps the only album in rock history to mock gullwing car doors. A couple years ago was "Tanglewood Numbers", the loudest most rock n roll album of the Jews' catalogue. I liked "Animal Shapes", and a couple others, but to be honest this cd collects dust on a shelf, and I haven't played it in nearly a year. I think if I went cross country again I'd find the time to love it, but it doesn't work around the house. I will say though that Tanglewood was great live. When I saw Dave Berman and company play in Chicago those songs were powerful and worthwhile.

And that brings us up to "Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea". The first song "What Is Not But Could Be If" is not a testament to the vocal range of our dear singer, but it recalls some very early Jews in its delivery, and the uptempo chorus helps it along. My favorite line on this one is "What was not but could have been was my obsession way back when".

The album changes course with track two- "Aloysius Bluegrass Drummer" is delivered quickly like "The Devil Went To Georgia", and the rumbling score beneath it would be a toe tapper if I wasn't driving. This song contains numerous lyrical gems, such as: "She was a hardcore gobbler and a longtime guzzler of hydrogenated crap", and "He was just a normal kid blooming tripping flowing just as I once did." This song is over too fast, and is Berman's first foray into songs about people stealing lard from 24 hour restaurants.

Track 3, "Suffering Jukebox" for some reason draws to mind "Friday Night Fever" from "Bright Flight" even though the sound is quite different. It seems to suggest that song from the perspective of the music machine. This is also the first song to feature Dave's wife Cassie on vocals. Her voice adds to the Jews in my opinion. It's not a classic voice, but for the kind of mournful songs he writes she sounds pretty. "You're all filled up with what other people mean"-has anyone ever defined a jukebox more poetically? Perhaps Hank Williams somewhere way back when, but this is a legendary line. It reminds me of a time at the 3rd Street Diner when they had the cd jukebox and at the time had a live Grateful Dead album with a 35 minute version of the "Other One" on it. I would always get my quarter's worth there.

"My Pillow is the Threshhold" seems like a song I should like more than I do. I love "what looks like sleep is really hot pursuit", and the music is fine, but by my fourth listen I was skipping to get to track five for its witticisms.

"Strange Victory, Strange Defeat" is classic Jews. It is chock full of nonsensically brilliant images and has a nice folk/alt-country sound. I feel like he's written a dozen songs with lines like "How much fun is a lot more fun? Not much fun at all", but I still listen to it again and again. His sing along with Cassie at the end of "We're coming out of the black patch", is like a much more hopeful "We're trapped inside the song", circa 1994. This song would be a number one single on some planet where real talent is rewarded.

"Open Field", very unlike the Jews. Not really sure what it's about, or how to make it my own. But it still sounds fine. Kind of like a bridge from "Strange Victory" to the storytelling majesty of "San Francisco BC".

"SF BC" is a longer story type song, still in rhyme unlike the amazing "Country Diary of a Subway Conductor" on "Starlite Walker". This song has so many glib and witty lines I don't even know what to quote. How about "Romance is the douche of the bourgeoisie", or "what's with this stuff that we "quote" believe", or even "She had become a vocal martyr in the vegan press". It evolves into a narrative of burglary and murder and seems to have little to do with San Francisco except for a mention of the Lower Haight. When I see the title of this one I can't help but think of sweet British Columbia, but I don't think that's intended.

"Candy Jail" is I reckon a song about Berman's drug dependency, but I'm not sure. The lyrics are silly, and could be enjoyed by any three year old familiar with Hershey or Mars products. "Peanut brittle bunkbeds" seems like some stoner dream come true in Johnson Hall.

"Party Barge" is the silliest track, maybe a throw away, but the line "Send us your coordinates we'll send a Saint Bernard", call to mind his poem where he mentions "parallel collies".

"We Could be Looking For the Same Thing" contains a line that should've been in a Johnny Cash or Pixies song-"I hope I don't come across as a coyote in your eyes." This sing like the one before is not a favorite, but it closes the disc nicely. The long title may suggest David Berman has been attending courses at the Stephen Morrissey school of Song Titles That Take Up a Whole Page.

In summation, I really love this album, I have played it four or five times in the last 24 hours both at home and on the road. It falls short of being their greatest, but "The Natural Bridge" set the bar pretty high.

I realized today that this September marks 15 years since I first heard the Silver Jews. My friend Kermit Kaleba, a fellow Pavement devotee, loaned me his copy of "The Arizona Record", a cd that sounded like it was recorded on a 10 dollar tape recorder. I have been a loyal listener ever since, and can't want for the day in 2019 when one of my kids puts on a Jews album and becomes a true believer as well.