My Alphabetical iPod Diary (Day 8)
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
“Advice To The Graduate” by Silver Jews (from Starlite Walker)
There’s something not quite right about Starlite Walker, Silver Jews’ first full length, when compared to later Silver Jews albums. Part of it is because it sounds exactly like I imagined the Silver Jews to sound when I first caught wind of their existence about five years ago. In short, it sounds like Crooked Rain era Pavement with a different singer (Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich provide the bulk of Starlite Walker’s musical expertise). Singer David Berman’s porch side musings are mostly there, but the songs, for the most part, are too shambolic and tossed off – frivolous even. Berman is a killer poet (barring “Living Waters’” shitty chorus), but he is a considerably limited vocalist (the bum notes on “Rebel Jew” are cringe worthy), so he tends to need a strong cohesive song in order to lay a foundation for his prose. Unfortunately, early Pavement, as much as I love them, is not the kind of structure that one needs and a great deal of the songs on Starlite Walker indicate that. Not so, however, for “Advice To The Graduate,” Starlite’s leading track. If nothing else, Silver Jews are good at putting their best foot forward (with the exception Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea) and “Advice To The Graduate” stands out despite the fact that it sounds a lot like Pavement. Berman shows some of his potential for wry lyricism (“On the last day of your life / don’t forget to die”) while Malkmus takes the mic on the lovely, touching chorus. Starlite Walker, improves during its second half, but “Advice To The Graduate” is nearly enough to buoy the sloppy, uncertain first steps of the album’s front half.
