"Trains Across the Sea" by the Silver Jews

Song: Trains Across the Sea
Artist: Silver Jews
Album: Starlite Walker
Also try:  Will Oldham, Uncle Tupelo, Stephen Malkmus, M. Ward, Devendra Banhart
Commentary: David Berman is easier to swallow if you always thought voices like James Taylor's were plain and boring to the point of being unlistenable. Eminently quotable, yet singing with a sort of laissez-faire approach to tonality, Berman has a book of poetry if the voice grates on you. I guess it also takes a certain suspension of disbelief to accept the complete oeuvre with its perfect, American similes ("his sister was like the heat coming off the back of an old TV") and an admixture of bad puns ("come to Tennessee, 'cause you're the only ten I see") and earnest one-liners culled from bumper stickers and "men's room walls." The Silver Jews are part of the strong core of the Drag City catalog, listen up.

choice lyrical sample: "In 27 years I've drunk fifty thousand beers & they just wash against me like the sea into a pier"

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"Punks in the Beerlight" - Silver Jews

Song: Punks in the Beerlight
Artist: Silver Jews
Commentary: In 2005, I was both amused and bemused by this video. I still am. I listen to other bands besides Danielson now, though. The Silver Jews are (were) another reason to love Drag City. David Berman legitimized country music for me (it was important not to be Southern in suburban KY).

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