The Nashville poet & singer/songwriter has been putting out records for a decade-and-a-half now under the Silver Jews moniker, working with everyone from Royal Trux’s Mike Fellows to Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus (QRO live review – including playing a Silver Jews song – at the request of Mike Fellows). While his odd word choice and deadpan poet delivery hasn’t changed a great deal over this time, the Silver sound has ranged from the lo-fi 1993 full-length debut, The Arizona Record, to the seriousness of 1998’s American Water, up to the more electric-rock-big sound of his last, 2005’s Tanglewood Numbers. But Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea harkens back much more to the irony-laden humor of 2001’s indie-country Bright Flight.
Berman starts out with his semi-sensical advice, “What Is Not But Could Be If”, laid over stripped & bigger alt-country, proving better in the bigger parts. But it’s the wryest Berman that really stands out on Lookout, especially on “San Francisco B.C.” Certainly a memorable piece, this funny storytelling epic does lose some of its spark on repeated listens, and at over six minutes, is probably too long. There are some nice indie-country-road-jangle guitars underneath, but really stronger is the short & sweet “Aloysius, Bluegrass Drummer”, a rollicking dance hall number sure to get your toes a-tappin’. Also really stepping up is the penultimate “Party Barge”, where a funny-wry Berman gives a laid-back good time and puts a smile on your face.
The more serious pieces are even tinged with this side of Silver, never overwrought, or even that ‘wrought’. “Suffering Jukebox” is aided by some wonderful chorus vocals from wife Cassie, but the following “My Pillow Is the Threshold” is a little bit forgettable. “Candy Jail” stands a little taller, but the most successful of the serious songs on Lookout is middle track “Strange Victory, Strange Defeat”, thanks to a perfect mix of unique Berman lyrics, indie-country guitars, and a bigger chorus – again, with support from Mrs. Berman. She also aids the chorus of the following simple and great alt-strum melody “Open Field”, and gives a bit of duet to finisher “We Could Be Looking For the Same Thing”.
David Berman’s singular voice and tones do sometimes run into one another: the album title line on “Pillow” sounds nearly identical to the almost-song title line of Bright’s “Tennessee” (“You’re the only ten I see”). But even there, what’s remarkable is that a sadder song on Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea is reminiscent of a humorous one. While sometimes he goes a little overboard, it’s nice to see this side of the Silver Jew.
MP3 Stream: "Aloysius, Bluegrass Drummer"
