The Silver Jews'
1996 recording,
The Natural Bridge
continues the band's shift from their early, sprawling racket into a smooth foil for
David Berman's
laid-back vocals and evocative lyrics. When sessions with original
Jews
Stephen Malkmus
and
Bob Nastanovich
and with members of
the Scud Mountain Boys
didn't work out the way
Berman
hoped, they were scrapped; the final version of
was recorded in the summer of 1996 at Hartford, CT's Studio .45, which was originally a gun factory.
New Radiant Storm King's
Peyton Pinkerton
Matt Hunter
,
Drag City
producer/sessionman
Rian Murphy
, and keyboardist
Michael Deming
joined
in this version of
the Jews'
lineup, resulting in a more spacious sound than on any of the group's previous recordings.
is also darker than the band's previous work, with lyrics like
"I think we may be losing now/Please guard my bed"
from
"Pet Politics"
and "Burnout tramp/Waits by the ramp/For one more car" from
"Ballad of Reverend War Character."
However, this darkness blends and contrasts with the wry, wistful
"Dallas"
"Pretty Eyes."
"The Frontier Index"
combines jokes and a beautiful, descending guitar line for a really nice mix of ideas and emotion. Though
lacks some of the immediacy of
earlier work, and
Berman's
voice slips into a monotone occasionally, this album offers some of
the Silver Jews'
finest moments. ~ Heather Phares