The Silver Jews: Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea

The Silver Jews' last album, 2005's Tanglewood

Numbers,

felt like a huge exhale after a career—such as it was—of

introverted, downcast poetic weirdness. David Berman inadvertently built

himself a legend: He refused to play live, he didn't speak to the press, and he

was nearly always associated with his pal (and occasional bandmate) Stephen

Malkmus. But Tanglewood, released post-suicide-attempt and life-turnaround, brought him

out of the haze and into a happier place, though it did explore some of the

dark journey. The results were only half-engaging, a problem that Lookout

Mountain, Lookout Sea

suffers a bit from as well. He hasn't lost the sardonic smarts, but there's a

sense of lightness—the playful, country-ish rock is more playful and

country-ish—that by its nature removes some of the gravity and graveness

of his songs. It's unkind to begrudge a great lyricist some real-life joy, but

more traditional tracks (like "Suffering Jukebox," featuring vocals from

Berman's wife Cassie, and "Party Barge") just don't have the impact of Berman's

finest. Still, he finds his best tone on occasion here: "San Francisco B.C." is

one of his epic stories, and "My Pillow Is The Threshold" could stand with some

of his greatest. It's no American Water or Starlite Walker, but better a happy

Silver Jews than none at all.