Austin Sound

It’s been a big couple of days for music news, what with the Sigur Ros mp3 and album announcement, the great shows coming up in Austin this weekend (Shearwater and Centro-matic/South San Gabriel) which I’ll talk about a little later this week, and then this: new music from the Silver Jews’ upcoming LP Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea.

The first thing you’ll note are the lyrical similarities to David Berman’s entire back catalog. The lines “Squirrels imported from Connecticut, just in time for fall / How much fun is a lot more fun? Not much fun at all” lead the song, but more highlights come immediately after: “What’s with all these handsome grandsomes in these rock band magazines? / What have they done with the fat ones, the bald and the goateed?”. I previously mentioned how Rivers Cuomo deals with qualms about rock n’ roll stardom in his own nerd-rock overdrive sort of way; David Berman generally deals with the same themes in a poetic sort of way.

So far as the music is concerned, “Strange Victory”, and the whole album for that matter, is more akin to the straight-forwardness of their last album, Tanglewood Numbers, especially songs like “Animal Shapes”. Berman’s voice continues in its long trajectory towards Johnny Cash, both in baritone lows, and the general “Fuck You” timbre that drives it. The song is short, and leaves you wanting more, like the shot of Bulleit you should have poured before you hit play.

The album leaked a while ago, but you’re still going to want to pick this one up. Nothing beats the feeling of walking home with the new Silver Jews clutched under your arm.

It’s no secret that Fleet Foxes have been jockeying for position against Vampire Weekend for “most blogged about in 2008.” While I’m starting to tire of reading about Vampire Weekend, I can’t really get enough of Fleet Foxes. They somehow feel more deserving of the constant praise. For those of you who don’t know much about The Fleet, I’ll give you the summary: Internet loved their debut EP Sun Giant that came out earlier this year. They sound good live and people have noticed. Their self-titled LP is out next week on Sub Pop. They’re good.

“White Winter Hymnal” hit the interweb a few months ago, and I don’t think I’ve stopped singing it since. The lyrics are more or less meaningless, placing emphasis on the melody that will, if you’re not careful, consume you. The song is drenched in reverb, making the already intoxicating harmonies sound bigger and everywhere at once.

A single voice begins the song, soon joined by the voices of the remaining members and supplemented with tambourine and acoustic guitar. As the first verse comes to an end, its last lyrical phrase is drowned by the boom of a floor tom that drives what is left of the painfully brief track. A bright lead guitar line joins as well and is followed closely by more vocals as the song continues much like the first verse but bigger.