Customer Reviews

American Water

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You've just gotten a stylish, hip, cool new shirt, and you know that when you wear it you ARE the shit. But the shirt is a little uncomfortable, a little tight maybe (like fashionable clothes tend to be), maybe just a tad too trendy. So instead you put on that old beaten up flannel thing that's frayed and faded and falling apart. But it's an instinctive choice, and you make it because this shirt makes you comfortable and happy.

American Water will not blow you away at first listen. It twangs and plods along in an alterna-folky way and takes little day-trips into funk and country. And yes, D.C. Berman's croaks more than sings, but hey, all of my favorite singers couldn't sing, either. But it wears extremely well, especially Berman's stoner-absurdist-yet-compulsively quotable lyrics. I could give many many examples as no doubt other reviewers have, but quoting the lyrics (e.g. "I love your amethyst eyes and your protestant thighs" or "From the digital fountains to the analog mountains, let the mirror express the room") doesn't do justice to their deadpan, cool-as-shit delivery by Berman and his right-hand man (some guy Steve from some other band). Suffice to say that American Water is an extremely comfortable shirt. And you can wear it every day and not smell bad.

"American Water" is a great album in the way that it frequently creates that certain syngergy of words and music you only find in the very best rock. Berman and Malkmus crooning uh-huh-HUH in the trailing line on the chorus of "People", the band switching rythmic tactics in the background wah-to-ashuffle, that five note guitar-picked downshift on "Send in the Clouds"- great stuff. Malkmus dominates less than on "Starlite Walker", to the band's benefit, usually teaming with Berman on choruses and the music has finally caught up to Berman's lyrics. On "Walker" and especially "The Natural Bridge" the band seemed to essentially play 12 varations on the same mid-tempo backing bit while Berman panned to great effect. Here he's learned those little tricks of inflection your true Rock God needs, the band doing everything from Pavementesque instra-mentals ("Night Society") to cornpone "country" ("Honk If You're Lonely")to hi-hat Christmastime slouchrock ("Smith & Jones Forever"). Pure Gold, folks. A must for Pavement fans or fans of the unclassifiable stuff that has the masses scratching their heads thinking of categories when you play it publicly- truth be told there is no sort of sortableness to this music- just great songs that're smarter than the average bear and like to remind you of it from time to time, as you sing along, Grinning Wryly.

Dave Berman's constantly evolving collective has made its best album to date. Unlike "The Natural Bridge", which was so heavily infused with Berman's "Velvet Underground drops acid with Hank Williams" aesthetic that it at times became redundant, "American Water" stretches out a bit more. This tendency towards trying out different sounds is aided by Pavement frontman Steve Malkmus's delightfully skewed harmonizing. "Send in the Clouds" rocks, "People" is almost funky, and "Honk if You Feel Lonely" allows Berman to swagger through a winking Roger Miller send-up. Lyrically, _American Water_ asks the big questions, from "Why can't monsters get along with other monsters" to "why is there something instead of nothing". Owning this record will improve your life.

David Berman is an amazing artist that maintains a really low profile. He's never really been in any spot light, but yet for a 7 year stretch he put out some really amazing stuff. All three of the first Silver Jews albums are worth owning along with his book. Anyway, this album finds David Berman teaming up with college friend and Pavement member Steve Malkmus again. This album is very loose and breazy with a sort of Pavement meets Bob Dylan feel. This album definitely ranks up there with either of the albums Pavement put out after Wowee Zowee, and is far better than 90% of the indie rock I hear coming out anymore. I also think that Steve Malkmus played some incredible guitar on this album, and if you hear it you'll see that he has a more restrained approach on this album. I wish these two would work together more often because the results are often amazing.

The joke becomes serious with the new release from the Silver Jews. Born from an adolescent Pavement, the Jews have spent their early days playing games in musical daycare and now graduate with to a more stern level of discipline. Sure, D.C. Berman bounces his words off the corners of sanity, occasionally missing, occasionally hitting a bullseye, but the music seldom strays into lunacy. Pavement frontman Steve Malkmus chimes in on a few tunes, making for an added bonus. This album carried an open invitation to my cd player.

This is my favorite of album by the Silver Jews, mostly due to the wonderful interplay of Malkmus's distinctive musical style and Berman's wonderfully rich and dense lyrics. I can't wax effulgent, though as this album does have some significant flaws. Mr. Berman sometimes seems to be trying to condense his verbiage for maximum impact, but unintenionally glosses over his lyrical themes with abstract generalities. Not to detract from his skills, of course; He is a fine poet, but his poetic techniques don't always lend themselves to this medium. Aside from the lyrics, I'm at times frustrated by how weakly constructed some of the harmonies are, and bored by some of the quirky genre omage that creeps in from song to song, and takes some songs over entirely.

I would like to respond to the one low rating on this site for this album:

He's not an accomplished vocalist. We know that, everyone knows that, and every time you complain about it, you look like an ignorant jerk in front of everyone. You can't complain about a lack of virtuoso guitar solos in classical music because that's just not where you find high-speed double taps and pick sweeps. Likewise, a lot of indie music's charm is the content's ability to take front stage over the presentation, and the success of front-men who hate the limelight and tell their psychological war stories through their albums is a testament to the potency of this sort of music.

American water is one of my favorite rock records. The confluence of Berman and Malkmus is so good for so many reasons; AW has an excellent rock identity, the songs are outstanding, and all of the instruments sound as they should. Certainly not for everyone, but for the right kind of listener, this is the kind of record that can reinstill an obsessive love of rock music.

I'll be honest. I bought this because I'm a Pavement fan and Stephen Malkmus is in the Silver Jews. I now know that the Silver Jews make great music, and David Berman has an appeal to me that is unique to all of the other music I listen to. This is a great CD, with poetic lyrics and a steady beat. These guys play real well together. I've since bought two other Silver Jews CDs, Starlite Walker and Natural Bridge, and I think that American Water is the best (for old and new fans alike), although they are all great.

I think this music flirts with a Johnny Cash / lazy Country / Rock genre, but it always falls down into the 'good music' category. It is hard to describe, but I'll try. Good guitars. Really good guitar playing. A nice steady momentum, a little slow at times, a little offbeat at times. But always there and always moving. For a good idea, try listening to samples above from song #1 (Random Rules) and song #2 (Smith & Jones Forever).

For Stephen Malkmus fans, give this CD a try! You'll probably be surprised. It takes a few listens, but it will grow on you like a good pair of jeans.

A fantastic collection of ditties from angst ridden poet/naturalist Berman. After repeated listenings you will start to hear something remarkably clear; the downtown beats and grad school musings actually metamorphisize into tangible insights into our current crisis. Steve Malkmus( ex Pavement )noodles around Bermans lyrics with understated beauty. This may be the perfect soundtrack to the apocalypse and, save that, a nice album for your post punk collection.

I tell ya what, this record is damn good. Buy now. No really, if you're a fan of the Pavesters and Malkmus and the sort, this one is kind of essential to throw in the scrap heap you call a CD collection. Very eclectic ye somehow soothing. I suggest Send in the clouds, Ramdom Rules, Smith & Jones, and People for a good time. Keep the beat alive. PEACE.