Goodbye Silver Jews

Bad news for fans of arty, folky indie rock. The Silver Jews are breaking up. That is sad enough, but the reason is even sadder. Based on this post at the Drag City message boards, the key member, Dave Berman, apparently viewed the Silver Jews as a sort of karmic bulwark against the evil perpetrated by his lobbyist father. It's a sad post on many levels, and feels like a rock and roll Star Wars where Luke gives up on Anakin.

Here are a few favorite Joos songs.

How to Rent A Room. A friend once complained that this song is adolescent, which I guess it is, but I think Berman is communicating the despondency that comes over people when relationships go disastrously wrong.

New Orleans. An early moody one, but so good. Lots of lyrical delights in this song. It is a bit sophmoric, but I can't resist "There is a house in New Orleans/Not the one you heard about/I'm talking bout another house."

Punks in the Beerlight. Compare the voice on this track made a decade after the prior one. The ravaged voice is reflected in this incredibly bleak track.

Wild Kindness. I am completely clueless as to what this song is about. That said, the music is lovely and I love the words he strings together.