That's Just The Way I Feel: A Guest Review Of The New Album From Purple Mountains (David Berman Of Silver Jews)

Review by Stan Cierlitsky

The Silver Jews might not have actually reformed, but David Berman, the main-man behind the Silver Jews, has returned to music as Purple Mountains. His new self-titled album comes out on Drag City on July 12.

Berman loudly (and possibly proudly) announces his return on Purple Mountain’s lead off track "That's Just the Way I Feel”. He tells us how the last 10 years have been going since he disbanded the Silver Jews. "Things have not been going well. This time I feel I finally fucked myself. You see the life I live is sickening. I spent a decade playing chicken with oblivion." To those of you who have been following him, you know that at least part of the reason for his leaving music was to try and find a way to undo the damage his father, lobbyist Richard Berman, had done.

I don't know much about that other than it almost culminated in an HBO special, but I do know that he has at least dabbled in music now and again over the years. He collaborated with The Avalanches on two songs: 2012's "A Cowboy Overflow of the Heart" and 2016's "Saturday Night Inside Out". He also co-produced Yonatan Gat's critically acclaimed album Universalists. This lead track though, sort of an alt-country honky-tonk, has one of the most memorable and funny lines I have ever heard. "I nearly lost my genitalia to an ant hill in Des Moines." This is the kind of witticism I have grown to expect from Berman. In some ways, this sort of wit and lyrical creativity places Berman's talents next to those of some of my other all-time favorite lyricists: Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse); Morrissey; Matt Berninger (The National); Jason Lytle (Grandaddy); and the-sadly gone too early from this earth-Scott Hutchison (Frightened Rabbit).

The next track, and lead single, "All My Happiness is Gone", will be the new singalong song for the self-deprecating middle-aged man.

The song, instantly catchy and likable, had a feel at first listen I could not quite put my finger on right away, not until my friend Jay mentioned that it had a Modern English-"I Melt with You"-vibe. Exactly! I will bet most of you reading this site will have listened to that classic 4AD song hundreds of times and loved it. That is why this song will instantly be one of your new favorites. To be honest, I still don't quite understand the alt-country label, but the music for this song kind of reminds me of The Flaming Lips around the time they put out Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. It has similar strings and keyboards to the song "Do You Realize??", a song I will probably be dancing to with my oldest daughter Emma at her future wedding (hopefully far in the future).

The third track (and second single) "Darkness and Cold" seems to be talking about Berman's possible separation from his wife, and former Silver Jews bassist, Cassie Berman.

It rolls forward with an eerie and mournful harmonica off in the distance, and touches on some pretty heavy ideas. "The light of my life is going out tonight without a flicker of regret." I have to admit this is the most confusing part of this record for me. Several songs on the album, like "She's Making Friends, I'm Turning Stranger", "Nights That Won't Happen", and this one clearly seem like songs that talk about their separation. David's first interview as Purple Mountains in the Washington Post seemed to confirm as much. But the video starts with a disclaimer "any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental." If that's not Cassie in the video, it sure is a close lookalike.

I won't review every track on the album. This is clearly a Silver Jews record regardless of what the real name of the band is. Fans will accept this as the natural follow-up to 2008's Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea. It has a really nice mix of upbeat songs like "Margaritas at the Mall" and "Storyline Fever", and some nicer slower songs like "Snow is Falling in Manhattan" and "I Loved Being My Mother's Son", with that number being a really cool shout-out to his mother. The feud between Berman and his father must have been really tough on her over the years.

The last song I want to mention is the last track, "Maybe I'm the Only One for Me". My wife Linda keeps pointing out that David Berman is the modern era's Hank Williams, Sr. And, clearly, one could argue that there are aspects of this song -- the slide guitar stands out for me -- that would make one think that. I'm not sure Mr. Williams ever penned a line like "If no one's fond of fucking me, maybe no one's fucking fond of me", but I still like her point. Anyway, this song is notable for another reason as it was co-written with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. During the Silver Jew's hiatus, Berman and Auerbach were reportedly about to launch a separate musical project. They apparently developed a friendship that may or may not have been built on a foundation of making fun of Jack White. Of course, Berman backed out.

One final comment: Silver Jews rarely toured during their existence. Purple Mountains will be hitting the road in the States starting August 10 in New York. They will be making a stop here in Washington, D.C. at the Black Cat on August 14. Get your tickets here.

Purple Mountains is out on Friday via Drag City.

[Photo: David Berman/Drag City]