Silver Jews "Bright Flight" (2001)
Silver Jews were often written off as a Steven Malkmus side-project,
despite having been started around the same time as his other more
famous band Pavement, and Malkmus doesn't even feature on this album. I
actually enjoyed this more than Pavement/Malkmus too.
The sound of the album is generally a laid-back alt-country, with almost a
touch of the melodic side of Velvet Underground (that impression helped by the laconic
drawling vocal of that band's primary singer). There's some variety
though, "Transylvania Blues"
an instrumental track with that 'driving down the highway at night'
vibe to it that builds to haunted rock. "Let's Not and Say We Did" has
a kind of fun Honky-Tonk vibe to it.
The book mentions that Silver Jews mainstay David Berman had written a
book of poetry too so I tried to pay a little more attention to the
lyrics than I normally would. I definitely heard a few lines I enjoyed
like "You're the highest apple on the tree" and "they slow-danced so the needle wouldn't skip".
I'd also have to say, the part of me that loves a cheesy pun enjoyed the couplet in "Tennessee":
"Marry me and leave Kentucky, come to Tennessee/because you're the only ten I see". Sweet, corny, perfect.
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