Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea

Silver Jews
Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea (2008)
Drag City

With Silver Jews front man and main songwriter David Berman recently dissolving the band on his Internet message board, I thought this was an appropriate time to review their latest album, which I picked up around Christmas, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea.

I didn’t know much about the Silver Jews before I purchased this; I had never heard anything they’ve produced before this. But numerous strong reviews I saw on various indie-rock websites coupled with a connection to one of my favorite rock acts, Pavement (Stephen Malkmus of Pavement was a founding member of the Silver Jews), led me to give this record a shot.

I must say I’m glad that I did. A relationship to Pavement can be a mixed blessing. Every Pavement record has several outstanding songs, but I often find their records uneven and some of the songs downright abrasive and un-listenable. With Pavement, you take the bad with the good, and though the good is always well worth the struggle, it can be trying to slog through the mud to get there.

Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea, however, is strong all the way through. Each song blends nicely into the next, and there are no jarring style contrasts from song to song like you often find on Pavement albums. Songs contain different styles and approaches, but they stay in the same ballpark, allowing the album to flow easily and freely from one song to another.

The album has a cheerfully odd demeanor about itself. Lyrical subject matter, though wonderfully written and interesting, is still often absurdist poetry. Berman’s lyrical delivery adds to the surreal nature of the record. He sings very deeply, which works well to contrast nicely with the lighter musical tone. It can be a little grating at points (like in the eighth track, “Candy Jail”), but works greatly in “My Pillow is a Threshold” and “Strange Victory, Strange Defeat”, the best song on the album.

In “My Pillow is a Threshold”, Berman’s deep but soft voice glides over the understated guitar work, creating a dream-like atmosphere which obviously fits the song’s title. The lyrics in the song, about the possibilities of life while asleep, are tremendous as well:

“Because the pillow that I dream on,
Leads to some fantastic glory,
It’s a threshold of a world
I can’t ignore.”

A light-heartedness and mellowness permeates the entire record, save for bits and pieces here and there. Some of it is so shiny and bright it will put an actual smile on your face (like the instrumental chorus to “Party Barge”). It’s a sunny record, albeit one you might enjoy a little more if you’re on some type of psychedelic.

The problem with Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea, however, is its staying power. I look at a great album as both a coherent and strong musical compilation, which also contains songs that stand alone and that you’d want to put on individually over and over. This album covers the first part of this equation, but not the second. Each song is good, but they don’t pack enough punch individually to be particularly memorable.

This is a great collection of songs, however, and one that provides cause to look into the rest of their output. Absolutely recommended.

B+

John Lacey