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Silver Jews keep the faith

By John Kenyon

A few years ago, it seemed as if we were about to lose David Berman. For most people, that might not mean much, but to fans of his music with the Silver Jews and his well-regarded poetry, it would have been a sad end to a promising career.

After a decade that saw Berman and the Silver Jews emerge from the shadow of Pavement, the indie rock sensation with which the band shared some members, and Berman become a critically and commercially successful poet with the publication of his book, Actual Air, the songwriter deteriorated due to alcohol and drug use and depression, a slide that eventually led to a suicide attempt.

At the time he had four albums of twangy indie rock to his credit, from the lo-fi Starlite Walker to the more polished Natural Bridge and American Water. The latter, issued in 1998, was his breakthrough. Pavement leader and founding member Stephen Malkmus was a dominant force, complementing Berman’s deadpan, poetic musings with angular guitar solos.

Actual Air, released the next year, cemented Berman’s reputation. Silver Jews fans discovered his poetry, while poetry fans explored his musical back catalog. He seemed poised for a breakthrough. The fourth album, Bright Flight, however, found Malkmus gone as Berman seemingly fought to convince critics that the Jews was his band. Though still solid, it was a fall off from its predecessor, and thanks to Berman’s troubles it was the last fans heard from him for four years.

But Berman recovered, in part thanks to embracing Judaism. The result has been a spiritual and creative rebirth. After five years away from recording, Berman returned in 2005 with Tanglewood Numbers. Earlier this year the band issued Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea, the tour for which brings Berman and Co. to the Picador in Iowa City Thursday night. Tickets are $15; doors open at 9 p.m. Freak folk rocker The Mattoid, a Helsinki native living in Nashville, opens the show.

Just a few years ago, the thought of a Silver Jews tour was a pipe dream. Berman was prolific in the recording studio, but refused to go on the road. When he re-emerged after his difficulties, he changed his mind and took the band on tour. Stops on that 2006 jaunt in Israel were documented in the film “Silver Jew,” out now on DVD. The filmmakers follow Berman around Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, chronicling moments both private and public. Very little of the band’s performance is captured; instead, the film is a better introduction to Berman himself.

In it, he discusses the name of his band, his growth in the Jewish faith and his music. With regard to the name “Silver Jews” – a name that has been speculated about endlessly – he says, “I ensured by accident that I would make it as difficult as possible for the music to live by never touring, never collaborating, never being on compilations, never having ads and then having a name that scared people.”

He see an, um, silver lining, however: “A punishment I gave myself in 1990 became a gift I gave myself in 2004 when I decided that I wanted to be a Jew,” he says, “and I realized this thing that had been a millstone around my neck for years was actually my ticket out of my hell life, because I had this arty relationship with Judaism started just in this silly name.”

While he has continued to publish poetry sporadically, he has yet to follow with another collection.

“Maybe I’ll want to write poems again. It’s funny, now I like this better. [With poetry] I just feel like I’m sketching on some obscure, frozen pond in Wisconsin and it’s absolutely hard to communicate, and no one is going to see it, no one reads it,” he says. “But this way I feel like, lucky that I had this second, like a guy who goes to law school and then decides he’s gonna be in the FBI and actually pulls it off, even though maybe he doesn’t feel like he’s a tough guy and can make it through physically, and then he’s glad he’s an FBI agent.”