Silver Jews: The Natural Bridge (CD)

The Silver Jews' music has a sense of human care that is at odds with the 'easy art' overload that constantly bombards us. A mixture of great truths and false trails, their records make you smile and want to get drunk and play them all back to back; chronologically, because David Berman would respect that. Carefully sidestepping the maudlin cliches of most modern music, Silver Jews' appeal is unselfconsciously American, all-embracing and poetic without pretention.

So after you listen to their sterling debut, Starlite Walker, move on to this, their 1996 follow-up Natural Bridge. The original sessions with primary members Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich were scrapped, so Berman quickly recruited New Radiant Storm King's Peyton Pinkerton and Matt Hunter, Drag City producer/session musician Rian Murphy, and keyboardist Michael Deming.

The profound and moving alt-country meets indie-rock results proved once and for all that the Silver Jews, and more importantly David Berman, were far beyond a Pavement side project. Equivalent to Berman's own Nebraska, Natural Bridge serves up some of the darkest and most personal songs in the Silver Jews catalogue and opened new doors for the project along the way.

1. How to Rent a Room 
2. Pet Politics 
3. Black and Brown Blues 
4. Ballad of Reverend War Character 
5. The Right to Remain Silent 
6. Dallas 
7. Inside the Golden Days of Missing You
8. Albemarle Station 
9. The Frontier Index 
10. Pretty Eyes