Reviews (page 5 of 8)
Sounds kinda generic.
Indicative of late 90's / early 00's indie. The subject hits personally; the whole album is tinged with disparate sadness through the clean, evenness of the music against unenthused and depressed vocals It's smart honestly. Initially sounds like nothing notable, but the album does create a unique story through the play. Not reaching for it any time soon, but its a good blend of sad country and thoughtful indie. Makes sense on this list
Four stars for the lyrics, minus one for the terrible singing, which may or may not be an affect. Think of it more as a wobbly, spoken word performance.
kind of alright. He's got a voice that sounds a bit like a camp bear in a cartoon. like a cross between mr slave and sexual harassment panda.
I don't think I really felt much on this one. Nice tones.
Indie-alt-country. Somewhat boring.
Stand-outs: "Room Games and Diamond Rain," "I Remember Me," "Transylvania Blues," "Tennessee"
Some alright stuff, but some so so
folky indie pretty slow and lots of ballads too
Nothing wrong with it, nothing special
I thought that I'm listening Lou Reed.
3.4 - Listen to “Natural Bridge” instead. While this might be a tuneful and more accessible introduction to David Berman’s impressionistic poetry, it doesn’t have the barrage of mind-bending bars as NB. I do love the honky-rink twang of “Tennessee” and “Friday Night Fever”, though.
Indie lo-fi de manual. Melangiós, intrigant, atractiu i amb uns arranjaments de guitarra interessants. Banda sonora ideals pels losers de començaments de segle
Like Wilco and Pavement had a musical baby. Simple album.
I'm interested in this band, but I didn't really like this album. But it's also not considered their best, or even their second best, so I'm not sure why it's included over a couple of their earlier releases. So I'll listen to something else by them to see if this album just didn't sit right with me for some reason during this first listen.
American landfill indie, pretty bad but not offensively so. A couple of really upsetting puns (e.g. 10 I see / Tennessee), fairly dull music, but difficult to properly hate. Sounds like another three to me!
Once there was a time when I'd have run a mile from anything remotely country. That's changed (via a dive into Bluegrass and Americana inspired by Sacred Harp singing and three years living in the US), and I quite like some alt-Country and Country-inflected indie music. (I've cheated and looked at the full list to see if Gillian Welch is on it, for example...looking forward to that!) I didn't have time to do justice to this album. But initial impressions were that it's good - good songwriting, well produced, but for the most part not really inspiring me to come back for more. One track that did get my attention (thanks initially to the oddly present tambourine) was the instrumental track Transylvania Blues.
I had never heard of this band before. And when I started listening to the album, I thought - can I actually put up with this guy’s drone of a voice? Well I could, because he’s such an interesting lyricist. There are so many wonderful lines. From the track Tennessee : writing sad songs and paid by the tear & Punk rock died when the first kid said punk’s not dead. From Horselike Swastikas : … And I wanna be like water if I can cause water doesn't give a damn. Not surprising to learn that David Berman was first & foremost a poet. The music is fine, but it’s Berman’s words which steal the show. It’s been a real discovery for me.
I liked it. It's very Pavementy in its half-arsedness and it's dry wit, but with a more Americana edge to it. Less keen on that, but I've saved three songs that impressed me (Nashville, I Remember Me and Let's Not and Say We Did, all witty, wonky fun). It doesn't necessarily have much in the way of tonal variation, which is a blessing or a curse, depending on your mood when you're listening, I suppose! It also feels a little dated - this feels like it belongs to the early noughties, with films featuring manic indie pixie dream girls, ironic homophobia and people into this sort of thing being fiercely competitive about having a more obscure artist... and I bet that you haven't even heard of Bardo Pond, who did this miles better ;-)
I can dig it Sounds like Willie style country "Leave Kentucky" 10/10 "We're off to the land of hot middle aged women" hahaha
Have you heard of ‘indie’ music ?
This is an indie band and I cannot be convinced otherwise. Very generic and forgettable. I've listened to a few tracks per day for several days and EVERY time I turn it on I go "oh THIS is what these guys sound like?" This list is full of swings and roundabouts, to be sure, but I've been going through a stretch of like... just boring corn fields.
Ooit helemaal verknocht aan een ander plaatje van deze lui en ook nu snap ik gelijk weer wat je hier tof of juist klote aan kan vinden: Die suffe nasale stem! Wel met geweldige krankzinnige teksten: Goodbye users, suckers and steady badluckers!
Die wat onvaste stem daargelaten, vond ik dit best goed te pruimen.
Best een leuk album. Muziekaal erg prettig maar de neuzige zang is toch niet helemaal mijn ding.
It was just ok
I enjoyed the album, 1st time I have ever heard it. It sounded a bit like Wilco.
Good album but just really weird. The last 2 tracks are the best imo.
Silver Jews are always good
In the “to be revisited” pile. The vocals are throwing me for a loop, but the songs are enjoyable and varied, and I love some of the lyrics.
The vocals are a bit out of tune but that's maybe what makes this so goddamn cosy.
Great moody alt-country vibe. Excellent balance of the twangy and the dissonant. It took me a couple of songs to settle into David Berman's vocal style, but it works here. Will definitely revisit this. Fave Songs: Transylvania Blues, Room Games and Diamond Rain, I Remember Me, Death of an Heir of Sorrows, Slow Education
okish
alrigjt
Bit too talky
A somewhat mediocre album. Mediocre voice, mediocre lyrics, mediocre arragments. 1-2 songs that are good, but no 1001 for me. (5/10) FT: I Remember Me
Heard of them before but never listened, pleasant lo-fi American indie with some good songs rather undersold by singing that may be an acquired tastes.
Indie rock lento. Ni fu ni fa.
Quite a good album
Nice, country-infused indie. I like the sons, but can't really get on with the vocals. The singer's inability to hold a note appears to compromise delivery of the natural melody. This could have been a great album with an in-tune breathy female vocal. Rating: 3/5 Playlist track: Slow Education Date listened: 25/05/22
Meh...this one was okay. Didn't love it, didn't hate it. Definitely a stronger second half of the album, which is better than the reverse situation. My favorite tracks on this leaned more heavily country and less into...hipster-folk, if you can call it that? That's more what the first half of the album was IMO. Fave track: Tennessee. Yes, the "ten-I-see" pun was total cheese, but it was self-aware. And more importantly, the melody was calm and nice. Overall a smooth and enjoyable listening experience, but not SO enjoyable I'd revisit. The Mississippi of albums.
Álbum proporciona um clima interessante.
Beautiful Americana/alt country but is it ground breaking or life changing enough to be on this list.
Nokkuð gott indie rokk. Punny textar.
Tranquilo y diferente
Quaint little album. Feels very personal and intimate which I enjoyed, and the song topics are interesting and meaningful. Overall pretty decent for something that is not my usual genre. 6/10
Not a terrible album by any stretch, but just alright. It's a decent listen, but nothing really stands out as an important track. Definitely feels like a product of it's time.
This is an album you need to sit down and take your time with. When David Berman sings, you need to listen to his lyrics. It has a country/indie rock charm, but there is always the feeling that there are storm clouds on the horizon. It's an album that needs a hug and a pat on the shoulder. Best Tracks: Slow Education; I Remember Me; Tennessee
Really dug the instrumentals, did not enjoy the vocals. Sounded like someone complaining at me for 35 minutes. Looks like it's some members of Pavement with a different vocalist, I guess that explains it.
I still have a ways to go before I'm totally on-board with Berman's voice. That said: I got on board with the longer instrumental sections in the second half, lyrics worth reading, love songs, the passage of time.
Never Heard of Silver Jews before this so definitely my first time of listening. Wow, love this! A cross between Lou Reed (Circa Velvets), Leonard Cohen and David Lowery from Camper Van Beethoven. Some sad but definitely Sunday morning songs, I am intrigued by his voice and his lyrical content. "I Remember Me" "Horseleg Swastikas" and "Let's Not Say We Did" are my favourites here. A lovely sunday morning listen but not sure if it justifies a place on this list!
Was alright 5/10
J’ai des vibes de zappa, c’est bien 3.25
Quite liked it, bit wobbly in parts though. Can hear lots of other things like pavement/bright eyes/Elliot smith/Decemberists etc in there.
What a strange time. Irreverent, blunt, and occasionally hilarious, they lyricism on display is a special kind of witty that almost goes too far into annoying. He's definitely got something going, but I'm not sure how much I enjoy it.
After reading the reviews and Wikipedia it sounded like an album I would enjoy. I did, but not as much as I thought I would. Maybe if I listen to it again or different albums. In the end not bad, some good songs on it l also. Favourite songs: - I remember me - Let’s not and say we did - Friday night fever
Mmmm, como que me sonó a muchas cosas y no le encontré algo único, pero quizá porque no conocía Silver Jews. En fin... 6.5/10
I enjoyed this and there were some real stand out tracks, but it didn’t really fully click with me as an album for whatever reason.
Varia em qualidade. Algumas mais agitadas são boas
I liked this somewhat - this indie-rock-meets-country album somehow sounds bleak, but in the first couple of songs manages to hit the right notes for me. The songs on the opposite end aren't as strong, though. 3/5
Sad music for people who don't want to listen to music. If I'm depressed I feel way more connected to the war on drugs than this type of music. I'm not depressed now, so it is even less enjoyable.
There are some bands that are just annoying. This is one of them.
Aggressively not my shit
I like let's not and say we did. 2 stars for me
Not a fan of the toneless vocals. Had some potential...
eee es medio raro, no me disgustó pero está ahí ajJj
"indie rock" my ass, this is country music
Olipas tylsää muminaa. Pitkä puolituntinen.
This is #day766 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... here's to another band I've never heard of. Some indie/lo-fi rock from the early '00s, which I don't mind, but then I don't think I'll ever remember it or feel like putting it on again. Is it really a must-listen-before-you-die record, though? This is a 2 out of 5. Looking forward to #day767.
dios mio que pedazo de embole, nothing burger at its finest. Al menos llevo haciendo este challenge tanto tiempo que ya me acostumbre a escucharme albumes enteros que no me causan nada, pero si me dabas esto en noviembre del año pasado creo que me mataba. No destaco nada, no me gustan los instrumentales (son medio vacios), no me gusta la voz del señor y tampoco como expresa las cosas. 4/10
Pass
Made it 3 songs in. Tapped out.
This is a band that always ends up snapping me out my enjoyment of indie playlists on music platforms. There will be five or six songs where I am going about my day, enjoying brooding melodies and intelligent lyrics when I am jolted from my revelry by this flat vocalist. Then I see that the Silver Jews are playing, I click skip and move on about my day. Well, it's time to put that skip button away, as I continue to stagger towards completion of this Oregon Trail of music. Dysentery be damned, you're going to listen to the Silver Jews make the "Tennessee? You're the only TEN I SEE" joke in SONG FORM. My mind is broken. My body is spent. I don't have it in me to hate this, but I can't listen to this vocalist anymore. I made it past the Silver Jews casting couch, not unscarred, but able to limp forward into a mercifully longer than normal weekend. Lets at least enjoy those until they become exclusively available via the premium tier of our subscription "DownTime" model under our new, fully corporation based government in 2029. 2 GENRE: Futonian
Boring af
The music should be up my alley but the singers voice kills it for me
2 - not great
Dude doesn’t even sound like the dude wants to be on his own album
Is he half asleep, drugged up to his eyeballs or actually drunk when recording these to gain maximum effect? The only track where he seemed to wake up was Lets Not and Say We Did but by then I had already written them off. That's enough country to hear before I die thanks...suspect there will be more though :(
started nice but pretty much repetitive and boring LP after all
The main vocalist is incredibily grating. Incredibily poor opening song. After 3 songs you've basically heard the whole album Instrumentation is decent, so bonus point for that. 2.0/5.0
Disliked it the more I listened, which is never a good sign
Starts like it's already over it, a drawn-out drone that's more grating than engaging. Decided they were too cool for school, and spent an album proving it. Couldn't save itself from its own monotony. Spins: 1 Playlist Additions - Tennessee - Friday Night Fever
Not a fan of the voice, it’s a choice to sing in this rather dull/bored tone, but not one I enjoy. Songs overall are fine, pleasant, but it does get boring after a while.
Boring americana. Not objectionable, just too dull to tolerate the entire album
Dave Berman is a poet. The fact that he sets his poetry to music doesn’t really matter. Well, it does because essentially, that’s what he’s doing. And I’m not a fan of it at all. This is the kind of record that critics love and value for the "art" of it all. The last couple-three songs are the only ones I liked at all and quite frankly, I don't care if I ever hear it again.
Standouts Transylvania Blues
I had a pretty harsh review of this album up, then read how its main vocalist and writer died, so let’s just say I found it mediocre.
A bit of a weird album. I didn’t hate it but it was pretty forgettable.
Enjoyment: 4/10 Replayability: 4/10 Cohesion: 5/10 Flow/Pacing: 3/10 Artistic Merit: 4/10 Weighted Average: 4.05/10 Review: Slow, melancholy, and mostly monotone. Another album for sad boy hours but certainly not as good as Beck's from yesterday, especially since all the songs sounded the same. Liked Song(s): Transylvania Blues, Tennessee, Death of an Heir of Sorrows Disliked Song(s): Time Will Break The World, Horseleg Swastikas Recommend? No Heard Before? No
voix boring, lyrics pas mauvais quoique, musique sympa 2.5/5
It's fine, easy to listen to.
**A sad dreary album
Exceedingly minor, sometimes winning, alt country folk rock. I don’t have the faintest idea what it’s doing on this list.
I tried, I gave chances. But if the song is called Horseleg Swastikas, how can I be good judge? Maybe Transylvania Blues was worth my time and that's it.
662/1001 2026.07.21 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
Well, I suppose it's alt-country or countrycore or IndieWest or something. But, I'd just call it dull and whiney. Won't be going on my relisten list.
Meh. Boring and I don’t like the singer’s voice.
The only good part about this album is that I listened to it with one Ms. Julia Ward. We agree that the instrumentation was average and the singing was poor. Also, Emily, Julia would like you to know that “you're the only ten I see.”
Musically solid, but the singer can’t sing and the lyrics are pretty bad. I guess I needed to hear this to wonder how it got made…
Es una especie de folk rock de la era de los 2000s Tienen momentos de bastante fuerza, otros donde están más calmados, ambos tienen buenos ritmos dentro del álbum Pienso que su vocalista tenía una voz bastante particular, me da incluso algo de vibras a Black Country, New Road lo cual es curioso, tal vez no se van tanto a lo experimental pero es interesante encontrar posibles influencias El álbum es reescuchable, no me parece malo, no me parece increíble, pero si una producción muy sólida, solamente no es de lo que más me ha marcado, pero si recomiendo escucharlo
always when i'm about to stop that messy school boy record there's a spark of beauty when instrumentalisation and that oftentimes horrible voice come together. then it's over and i try not to be annoyed.
Bruce Springsteen without the Voice.
Nothing special
I was going to review this by saying it's like a worse version of Pavement, checked the band description, and found out that Stephen Malkmus is actually in it. Now I feel a bit bad for Berman, who started this project before Pavement was ever a thing. Sorry, mate. Nevertheless, don't see myself listening to this a whole lot.
Drowzy, folky ramblings
Although the lead singer has an extremely monotone voice, this isn't too bad. Some decent indie/country tracks. 2.5/5.
Was that song 30 minutes long? Was it one song?
Way too slow-paced for me
i didn’t have very strong feelings about it one way or another… all the songs sort of sounded the same to meㅠㅠ
This was not interesting. The singing was not good.
Yet more bland boring indie rock with the most monotone vocal delivery.
Sounds like Lou Reed. Okay songs - would rate as 2.5 if I could. Not sure if I would listen again.
What if we sucked all the juice and musical talent out of "Ants from Up There" and just left an atmospheric sad boy guitar album? Listen to Black Country, New Road if you want this but good.
Disappointing, eh
langweilig
Just kinda run of the mill indie stuff. Idk if it really deserved it's place on this list
another first. not so so bad but honestly not memorable. i totally zoned out a few times. feels repetitive.
This is awful. I guess you have to sprinkle in a few of these dreadful albums to make the good ones shine. The songwriting is bad. The singing is bad. The recording is so bad that it makes the singer sound like he has a lisp that I don't believe he has. His vocals are all a little flat and while I think that's intentional, I really wish that it wasn't.
Someone is going to try to sell this as the second coming of Bob Dylan or Tom Waits but they would be wrong. His voice misses the point of those two, struggling to maintain any semblance of pitch and instead pumping out these grating, awful vocal performances that I'm sure they sell as on purpose but that doesn't make it good. The only thing he has going for him is he has a couple bars on this thing, otherwise garbage.
Didn't care for it.
I will scream it from the mountain top why is this on the list
This sucked. The instrumental track was solid and I like the arrangements but this dude sounded like Leonard Cohen which is not a plus and wrote songs like him too.
A mostly forgettable listen. Except for the vocals-those were rough. Mumbling, pitchy, off key
You're the only ten I see. Jesus make it stop. 2/5.
Couldn't really get on board with the singer's voice and the album was pretty dull. However it grew on me as it went on and I didnt hate it. Another odd inclusion in the list
Is it a seminal example of the genre ? No. Is it historically significant? No. Is it a big influence of anyone else of note? No. But is it a great listen on the walk to work? Also no. It’s not awful, but it does feel like stat padding
A bit dull
Not a fan
Not really that great.
Even being alternative, not my cup of tea.
2 out of 5. Too slow and not much going on here.
01) Slow Education - 6,0 02) Room Games and Diamond Rain - 5,5 03) Time Will Break the World - 5,0 04) I Remember Me - 6,0 05) Horseleg Swastikas - 5,0 06) Transylvania Blues - 6,0 07) Let's Not and Say We Did - 5,0 08) Tennessee - 6,0 09) Friday Night Fever - 5,0 10) Death of an Heir of Sorrows - 5,0 TOTAL: 5,45 (55/100) Current ranking: 820/938 Why? Why on earth is this here?
Have never heard of this one, that's always fun. Well sometimes it's not so fun once you get started. Based solely on the cover, I would expect this to be middle of the road 90s/00s lo fi indie. Yeah I was pretty much right on. Maybe add a little bit of a country vibe to a lot of it. But what's with these kinds of bands from this era and the absolutely shitty vocals? Like I get that it kind of gives a different sort of laid back and melancholy quality to it but god damn. Indie for a reason I guess. I think there are probably some good lyrics in here somewhere if you can stand to listen to them. I don't know, making music like this just seems kind of lazy. There's some good parts here and there but it's missing anything that would make you want to connect with it. Not for me. 2.5/5
ehh got boring after a while
It’s kinda giving when someone is drunk and they cannot stop yapping, and they are slurring and keeps repeating themselves and saying the most random nonsense but they just won’t stop yapping. The album actually started out pretty strong and I liked how cozy it feels but then his voice and his lyrics really got on my nerves.
The Adele album, and now this one together kind of represent the duality of vocal performance; Adele singing is theatrical and performed a high-level of execution, whereas this band and their singer is very laidback, DIY, Garage band. Neither is my favorite, but I probably prefer this band slightly. The instrumentation and compositions were pretty solid, and I can understand some of the charm of the singer, but I mostly don't buy it all that much. Definitely a stronger 2 than Adele, but I don't think I can quite give this a three
We've already heard quite a few more awful records than this one (which isn't exactly . . . awful), but . . . this sure seems like a very slight and quirky record, which clearly doesn't belong on this list. I guess if you focus on 1001 albums you "need to hear" (as opposed to the 1001 "best" albums), you could try to make a case that this is, what . . . an album for all those people who get together and make music in a basement or a garage, and the lead singer has a lot to say, and wants to sing it in his quirky, slightly annoying voice? This one probably suffers from my tendency not to focus on the lyrics; maybe he's singing some interesting words. This is a higher 2 than Adele, but I think it's still a 2 (though I could try to make a case for 3, I guess). But, nah, sticking with 2. I guess we're far enough into this that we can start to compare a new album (how to rate it) with things we've already rated. 3 would be sort of average; so I think that helps me put this (just a bit) below that.
very low energy for the most part the vocalist is challenging to listen to. I almost had to quit about three songs in. But the lyrics almost make it worthwhile. And the songs get a little more varied in the second half
This album is so strange. It’s like a guy that can’t really sing too well just decided to recite his journal entries. There are some songs that felt like they had so much potential but I wanted them to go crazy but the build up never paid off. ‘You’re the only ten I see’ my god. This is not for me.
I’m nominally a Pavement fan, so am aware of this side project as well. DCB was a long-time friend of the Pavement guys and a tortured poet. You can hear both in what is a more depressed and depressing country version of Pavement on this album. Maybe if I was in a funk on a dark cold rainy winter day this would speak to me, but it did not today. 2⭐️
Boring Fave track: Tennessee, despite the cringey pick up line
Hmm.... Not sure on this one. The music is kind of pseudo-country, folkish and the instrumentals are quite okay if not simple. however... The lead singer is ... like some guy doing karaoke who had not really ever been known to sing anything before. The music is half decent, the lyrics are fair to middling, it's just ... Yeah, like I said, the lead singer is quite literally like some random dude just belting out tunes as best as possible. Had they had an audition or something or just chose someone who could actually sing... Yeah, this is just too amateurish to be really ... what maybe it COULD be.
Never heard of this album or the band and, based on the slightly winey alt country atmosphere that permeates throughout, I don't; see any urgent need to explore further. Not unpleasant but not remarkable enough to suggest that this is an essential album to listen to. It sounds like music to immerse oneself in dark ideas and doomed relationships.
Let’s Not and Say We Did with this album
I have a lot of respect for this artist. I had the song “sometimes a pony gets depressed” saved on my phone and that song is awesome! They are entirely original and I don’t know of any band that sounds quite like this band. So I have creative respect for them, I even understand why this album made the cut, it’s all about the irreverent/creative lyrics with soft instrumentals. But to me personally this album was little too slow to truly engage me. That being said my favorite songs on the album are “Tennessee” and “Friday night fever”. I’d genuinely be excited to hear another album from them in the future.
Was this satire? AI? A bet? This sounded like a poor Tom Petty impression, with lyrics written to be as depressed and country as possible, with deep-sounding meaning behind them, but with not actual substance. Musically it wasn't bad, but christ, when he sang and you listened to his lyrics it was draining.
# Album Name: Bright Flight # Artist: Silver Jews # Rating: 2/5 # Comments: Meh forgettable. # Top Tunes: # Would I listen to it again? No
Another album with good instruments but very boring vocals. The guy tried to be like Lou Reed or even Bill Callahan from a previous album on this list but he had the most uninteresting vocals out of all of them.
one long run on sentence of an album / 5
Favorite track(s): Room Games and Diamond Rain, I Remember Me
Um... a guy with no obvious talent or singing voice is trying to sing sad songs. I have absolutely no idea how this ended up on this list.
Wtf are these lyrics? This dude is not good.
If late-stage Johnny Cash and acoustic Tom Petty had a baby, but the baby had suffered from failure to thrive, I imagine this is what it would sound like. I admit, I'm not a country fan, although I love Cash. While the laid back vocals and strumming are fine, I just don't see this as adding anything to whatever genre it belongs to. For an indie performer doing his own thing, I can support it, but this is not 1/1000 for me.
Guess you had to be there, otherwise it’s dreadful.
Ibland kändes det som att det var på gång att ha något, men slutade ändå med att jag inte gillade det särskilt mycket.
Silver Jews son un grupo bastante desconocido, y longevo: se fundo a finales de los 80 con fundó a finales de los ochenta junto a Stephen Malkmus y Bob Nastanovich (Pavement). 6 discos en casi 30 años, y el final en 2019 con la muerte de su líder (también en otros ilustres ignorados como Purple Mountains). Slow Education es folk destartalado. En cierto modo tiene el encanto de aquellos Moldy peaches que fueron olvidados en un suspiro. Room Games and Diamond Rain, Time will break the world, I remember me... similares Horseleg Swastikas gana mucho en la mitad final. Transylvania blues es un tema de lo mejor del disco, instrumental pero recordando a Friends of Dean Martinez. Let's Not and Say We Did tiene un ambiente sorprendentemente rápido y más comercial. Tennessee pone las cosas en su sitio. Friday Night Fever es country rock con aroma clásico. Death of an Heir of Sorrows es un buen cierre. Yo prefiero a Lambchop, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Bill Calahan, John Grant (o los Czars) pero es un buen disco Will Oldham, Kurt Wagner (Lambchop), Bill Callahan...
meh
Meh
Dreadful fluff
This feels like something I should love. Melancholy indie strings warbling. But it's missing something. My heartstrings remained untugged. This style of music should be "so beautiful it physically hurts" rather than "this dude has having a bad day"
Ahh, I try to like this band, on paper they should be a favourite - indie flavoured downbeat country, prominent pedal steel, links to Pavement and other bands I like - but I find it all a bit bland and repetitive, particularly an albums worth.
OK. Very ok. Just lacking any real spark
Listened Before? N This sounds like Tom Waits and Nick Cave got wasted and tried to see who could come up with worse lyrics while listening to old Beck records. The music is fine... super simple... pretty sleepy. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Slow Education
This really summarize my experience with this list... Yesterday I had an iconic 5 star album that is so widely culturally recognizable that most people can mention the band in a random quiz. and the next day a random artist I never heard of making very bland music. He sounds like even he is bored by his own music. If you want to listen to this type of music just listen to Cohen because this just sounds like someone writing a song in that style. A album in the classic "Can't sing but song write" genre The song "Transylvania Blues" stands out and is actually pretty good. Great choice of vocal style on that track.
The cover of Friday night fever is hilariously bad
I liked the overall vibe of the album, but most of the songs had at least one lyric so bad it made me cringe.
It was fine but remarkably bland
nasal mumbling with boring country guitar, yawn
pretty boring and uninspiring. Nothing is special about anything. Feels like no effort or creativity spend at all.
Bland and forgettable
One song in I already want to quit. The album cover shows exactly how dull this music has been so far.
As soon as the vocals kicked in this was destined for a 2. The lyrics just made me cringe. Some examples, from just the first couple of tracks: - "And if we're like plug-in reindeer, Whose chords can't stretch far enough to fly" - "A kitten from Great Britain sleeps behind the drapes" The backing is completely uninteresting; simple 4/4 beat, generally not many layers beyond drums/guitar/sometimes piano, and even when there's multiple instruments involved they're all basically playing the same thing. Arguably more country than rock in most of these tracks. Even when we get a female vocalist appearing in "Tennessee", she's dire and out-of-tune. Dull. Plodding. Shit vocals. Nonsense lyrics. Uninspired backing. With 2 notable exceptions: - "Transylvania Blues" - the complete absence of the (awful) vocals was a massive boon to this track. It wasn't hugely interesting, but it was a step above all of the preceding tracks. - "Let's Not and Say We Did" - completely different tone and energy made it stand out, even though the vocals were back, they were slightly different style, and it was genuinely refreshing. Shame it didn't last. Low 2.
It was fine. If I wanted to listen to Sufjan Stevens, I'd just listen to him.
This is what I sound like when I’m drunk and trying to sing badly on purpose
I get why I never heard of them...meh. It just always stayed on the edge of being good and safe but never really pushing it farther. Like its fun to play in our living room together but never really push it beyond that.
This was pretty awful at first and got a little better as it went on. The slow songs where it's just him droning on feel like he just wants to hear himself talk. But Let's Not and Say We Did wasn't bad with the backup vocals, I enjoyed the woman singing in Tennessee, and Friday Night Fever was a fun little bop. The lead singer's overall boringness was the star of the show though, so I can't rate this highly.
The guy can’t sing, at least not well. It’s too distracting. If the musicians on the record were at the same level as the singer, it would sound like all novice players learning how to play their instruments. Why does the singer get a pass then?
Disliked the vocal work at times.
Nice music. Nothing to write home about
Definitely not for me. The singer's voice was annoying and not melodic to me at all.
no che
Not for me
Liked: I Remember Me
Boring, dull, meh, plodding, not wasting more time on describing an album so unworthy of the effort.
Not my kind of music
had great potential but voice us hard to enjoy, nice lyrics tho
I really just didn’t get on with the vocals. Apart from that not too bad
вот это название. но слишком повествовательно под нотами, даже за моё любимое когда рифмуют слово киттен не могу перетерпеть
“The terrible band name can not disguise that this is a stinker,” I thought about 5 songs in. That out of the way, I then started not minding it. If they’d only called the band the Kidding Muslims I may have given it 4 stars.
I’ll admit, my first reaction was that this sounded like a lifeless, budget-brand version of Pavement. The vocals are flat, the instrumentation is skeletal, and at times the whole experience feels utterly wearisome and dull. However, after sitting with it, I started to realize that the boring quality is actually a deliberate, minimalist country-tinged atmosphere meant to frame David Berman’s songwriting. It’s pretty sad music at its core, but there’s a uniquely poetic wit hidden within. As for whether it has aged well or is a must listen to album, the general sentiment is a resounding "meh", though it's clearly an acquired taste.
never heard this band before. Melancholic lo-fi country tunes, it's pleasant enough in a miserable sort of way. After a few tracks though, it just gets a bit too whiney, like a drunken relative at a wedding reception. You want to get away from them, but you can't...
Hadn't heard of this artist before now. Jewish Country is a genre I didn't know existed. The record is quite dull and dry with a very monotonous singer. The music is drab and doesn't keep my attention. I got through the whole record out of commitment to this project, but that will likely be the last time I intentionally listen to this artist.
Whiny
I don't mind these songs except I don't really like the singer's voice. I wonder if it would grow on me the same way that like Colin meloy's voice did if I really liked the songs more, but I feel firmly in the camp of people who prefer pavement to silver jews.
Pretty good, couple songs I wasn’t a big fan of. Not my favorite silver Jews album. Decent 5
The music is fine, but his singing is very monotonous. I also don't like the way the lyrics are structured, there's oftentimes too many syllables in a bar, sounds awkward Horseleg Swastikas reminds me of a joke: What did the fish say when he hit a wall? Dam. A waste of good instrumentals ^Nvm just heard Let's Not and Say We Did
i was expecting angry rock.. my default assumption for random indie bands on this list. maybe i *shouldn't* assume that, but i've gotten too many angry indie rock bands on here.. this is fine, i guess. very casual. low key. his voice is fine, but occasionally annoying. i guess this is the kind of deep gravel voice i sometimes really enjoy, but idk, not feeling it today.
I do not like the main singer.
Inmemorable
Oh man another album that doesn’t belong on this list. This kind of music has been done much better by bands from the ‘70s. Not a great singing voice either. Makes it harder to try to enjoy this. It’s as if the appeal of this is that we’re supposed to empathize with him for being such a fuck-up. I can certainly do that and am pretty sure I have with other musicians but this album doesn’t really get me there. Listening to this doesn’t make me care about him or the music. Kind of just seems overly pathetic and pretentious. I’m a very open-minded music listener so I can’t believe how annoyed I am by this one. Still not the worst on this list probably because there’s real instruments played by real people. Maybe I’ll get it some other time when my life has gone completely to shit.
It was not very good. Again, Indie-artists are just singing badly. Sometimes it makes sense, like Neutral Milk Hotel but this time it was just bad. 2/5
This is OK. I actually listened to this 4 whole time, trying to decide if I like it or not. Crazy, right? Mostly, the music is similar throughout, typical singer-songwriter stuff with simple guitars. But occasionally it's interesting. Along the same lines, his voice is on the edge of annoying. He's not a great singer. But then, once in a while, I like the delivery. It fits the song. So, here I am back and forth about it. I do like "Transylvania Blues" enough to save it for another time. But the rest of this doesn't warrant a return. I guess being pressed for a rating, I have to give this a 2. I don't imagine I'll come back to it again ever.
This is almost gets to where it is interesting and overcomes the bad poetry of the singer. Almost. The music is good. The songs can be catchy. But the syntax and subject matter of the songs makes this less than what it could have been.
Stop talking to me bro your a singer.
I really didn’t like how lazy his voice sounded. It was ok but definitely not for me.
I don't think there was enough substance to this album to make it a fully enjoyable experience. It certainly filled the air while I cooked dinner, but "you're the only ten I see" is just... Bleh. That's a good word for this album. Bleh.
Sounds like Wilco’s opener.
Meh….K-Mart Wilco 2.5⭐️
It's alright...I would have been okay with not hearing this before departing this mortal coil though.
Stephen Malkmus is really hit or miss. This one's a miss.
Why is this on here?
The best part of the album is when he shut the fuck up
Well… It wasn’t 69 Love Songs! It also wasn’t Wilco A.M. I started curious, and then was wondering how an entire group of people can go down on themselves (Slow Education). It was kind of distracting. Was a Marilyn Manson thing or just really flexible? If you could do that, would you ever date again? And then he started talking about all his poor, starving children, (Room Games) and I started thinking of myself, dude, vasectomy! The song HorseLeg Swastika I think kind of described this album: drunk on a couch in Nashville. I didn’t hate it, and there are some good bones here. Transylvania Blues was kind of fun, but think the lack of lyrics and Stay-At-Home-mom Tuesday morning Chardonnay cartoon vocals helped. It was like listening to the Wiggles if they were stoned on a couch in Nashville. I just don’t think this is my thing.
Random thoughts: * I've definitely heard of Silver Jews before but I'm not sure I ever listened to them. * I don't think I was missing much. I couldn't really get behind this one. The vocals were annoying and I just couldn't get into any of it. * I couldn't even re-listen to this one. Which has been a big barometer for me on my enjoyment or lack thereof. * I did enjoy the pun of Tennessee. "You're the only ten I see". * Other than that, skip this one.
I thought that I would like this when I first put it on, but I kind of got bored pretty quickly. Listened through twice. It would be fine to have on, but I really want to actively listen to something, I wouldn't chose this.
Nothing thrilling.
Phew, I don't like the nasal voice or the rather boring music. You can listen to it, but you don't have to. 2/5
Best Song: Slow Education. It was a smart idea to add a female vocalist who can actually sing. Worst Song: Time Will Break The World. Nonsense lyrics that jump from non sequitor to non sequitor, while the vocalist absolutely struggles to hold a note. Overall: I frequently enjoy albums like this, but this kind of "lyrics-first, vocals-last" prioritized music only works if the lyrics are so great that they overcome how terrible the vocal performance is. Unfortunately, on this album the balance is rarely in favour of the lyrics. Pseudo-poetic attempts made by a vocalist who is unaware of their own limitations.
116/1001 First listen. I don’t know man. You’re not gonna win me over in a day with a voice like that. Nothing else going on here to help it along. I’m trying to fair and honest with this project but eeshk. 4/10
These are some of the worst vocals I’ve heard on a widely praised project. The instrumentals are the only thing keeping this from a 1-star rating. Take the roughest parts of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Tom Waits, strip away the originality, then make it boring. Truly one of the worst listening experiences I’ve had so far. 4/10
actually disappointing. i wanted to hear this for the first time and like it.
2,5
lyrically fun but only for background - not hooked enough to see live.
This wasn’t terrible. It’s started out slow but grew on me a bit. Still not my thing. It’s not great for sure. It’s just there. 2.75
2/5
That was a really boring singing style. The instrumentation is alright.
Could have been so much better
Just words
Boring indie
Sorry Jews
It was ok…I feel like I was listening to Jonathan Richman trying to sing Wilco…but not as good.
Hey kids, are you sad that Leonard Cohen is no longer around? Want to hear more primary school level poetry stuffed with half rhymes stuffed into tortured meter with the occasional guitar chord behind it? Well this is the album for you.
didnt know what to make of it. it was on in the background didnt really inspire me to listen properly, it was a bit dull but managed to stick it out.
Reminds me of one of those singer-songwriters but don't know which one. Cohen? Dylan? Reed? Someone else? Maybe a bit of all of them. It isn't as annoying as whoever it reminds me of, but blimey, pretty boring. The fact the music has more than a whinging acoustic guitar gets it an extra point.
This was gunna be a 1 but the lyrics saved it a bit. Will never listen again though
Not bad 2.5
In the land of Wilco/Bright Eyes/ MJ lenderman/pavement. Not my favorite style of production / lyrics, but the upfrontness is charming and personal. Lyrics can be too goofy/on the nose/absurd but again it’s charming and I like his voice. I think I struggle with the sort of storytelling sort of songs like the girl and the boy who gets hit by the truck after he proposes, but it’s also compelling. Awesome production on Transylvania Blues when it goes electric unexpectedly.
It's either depressing or jangly and depressing. Plus the singing sounds like Lou Reed if he were even more bored with life. This is kind of exactly the type of music I associated with the indie rock movement of the oughts, twangy, boring music with too much treble. The only track I really liked was Transylvania Blues, probably because there were no vocals, and the music was better. Let's Not and Say We Did than takes us right back into jangly BS. 2/5
Top 5 worst vocalists so far. And that’s saying something.
I wanted to like this and there were quite a few elements of it that were up my street, eg an ‘Americana’ style with quite interesting lyrics. But in the end it was too folk/country for me. If I’d liked the singer’s voice more, it would definitely have helped. Interesting to learn that this was the band Steven Malkmus of Pavement started with, and periodically retuned to. Pavement are good!
Musically pretty decent but I didn't like the vocals at all. They sounded drab and often off-key which didn't fit with the music at all.
album curtinho :0 FAVS (top 3): time will break the world, horseleg swastikas, lets not and say we did mençoes honrosas: slow education, transylvania blues compraria o vinil: NAO estou gag dos gags com a letra "youre the only ten i see" na musica TENNESSEE KKKKKKKKKKKKKKK CHEGA. mas enfim, eu odiei esse album... ainda bem q é curto pq meu DEUS esse eu poderia morrer sem escutar facilmente; tipo tem uma vibe mas como projeto inteiro não é bom nota final: 2.5/5
Нуднувато.
feels like a depressed guy trying to make normal people music, the depression sounds seeping through, i couldn’t finish because it’s not my style, it’s probably good to somebody else though
This one was rough. The vocals were unbearable, and the instrumentals weren't offering anything exciting either. The only somewhat good song was "Transylvania Blues", which coincidentally had no singing.
weird broken up cadence throughout, also try not to sound bored as fuck throughout. The rhyming schemes are pretty basic, but I kinda get the vibe they were going for. I just think Bright Eyes did it better.
What an awful album to end 2025 on. Just boring, bland, poorly sung lyrics that don’t seem to even fit the god damn songs HE wrote. Dude if you want to cram wordy sentences into your songs than rewrite them so they fit! Quickly stumbling through syllables makes for a real shitty listening experience. Why is this on here?!? I get that this dude had a tragic life and killed himself but tragedy doesn’t always = worthwhile art. Let’s hope 2026 gets off to a better start.
Quite a weird album. Today is 31 December and I can't believe that I'm leaving the year with this. There are definitely worse ones that I've listened to, so it's okay, I won't complain too much. It was overall alright having it in the background, but it was just a bit meh.
Boring
I like the music a lot, but David Berman is really not the best singer in the world. He actually kind of makes this a difficult listen. 2.5/5
инди-рок в плохом смысле этого слова.
I really like the twangy, sad country style guitar playing on this album. The lead singer's voice is quite off-putting to me though. He somehow sounds like a 2010s hipster despite this album coming out in 2001. Overall it was fine, but not particularly enjoyable
I got to the end of I Remember Me and was so close to turning off the music and throwing myself from the car. I liked the guitar, but the vocals truly I could not get past. I don't think I was depressed enough for this album. "my horse's legs look like 4 brown shotguns"?? okay man maybe you need to see somebody about that. It got better after that, just about cried from relief that Transylvania Blues was instrumental - that was my favorite track. Some of the lyrics were good but some were just massive stinkers.
cant get into it
Mmmm I’m torn. I liked some of this album, but I felt it got old pretty quickly. It reminds me of geese, but in the way I don’t really like geese. I would probably listen again to see how I really feel.
didn't get much out of this
Got excited by one of the songs but checked and saw the album was over and it went into similar artists, that was better
Early 00s indie rock, it's slow and laid back, but I've found it just boring. His voice is sleepy and the songs are just uninspiring. At least it's not a long album and I listened it in one go. I don't think I should listen to this before I die...2 stars.
Pretty bored. Didn't do too much for me outside the keyboard/piano on the 2rd/3rd song.
God I dislike indie music, and this album did nothing to change that. The Nashville sound they mixed in was a nice touch, but it still felt like I was listening to a country version of the Crash Test Dummies the whole time. There were a couple moments where the vibe almost worked for me, but overall it just dragged. Not completely terrible, just definitely not for me.
What a drag. I appreciate Berman’s way with words but he is the epitome of a sad sack. Sorry, maybe that’s disrespectful to the dead… He was a real artist and I have sympathy for his struggles and his fate. But I’ve always had a hard time getting through a full album of his material. I guess I need a little more emotional range in the albums I enjoy (at least in the absence of good hooks).
Not really overwhelmed one way or another on this
This band could be so much better with a new singer he has no range no tone. The country rock guitar is cool, unfortunately the singer over shadows it.
I HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT. Something about my body is repulsed by this voice. Nails to blackboard, drill in my teeth type shit. If you're gonna do a spoken word thing then just do that, commit to something for fucks sake, this noncommital half arsed sludge singing is doing my nut in.
They should get a vocalist.
The best song on this album had no lyrics and was entirely instrumental.
This is adjacent to music I like, but I didn’t like this. In some ways, it reminded me of the Magnetic Fields, who I love—but there’s so much wit and playfulness in MF records. This didn’t have that. I was surprised to learn that David Berman was meticulous with his lyric writing because I thought these lyrics were pretty uninspired… The arrangements were decent, and I generally liked what the band was playing, but this alt country sound with pitchy vocals just didn’t do it for me.
Didn't hit me that much musically, but there are some good lines and some interesting sounds going on with the country-ish feel on many songs. Off beat in a fairly fun way but I think modern baseball is more deserving off a spot on the list than this
This was a unique listen. Not my favorite.
I don’t hate it or love it, but I can appreciate it for what it is. seems like the kind of album that I’d want to listen to in a very specific laid back mood. Transylvania Blues is the standout track (which, funny enough, is the only track without vocals), while Tennessee is definitely my least favorite.
liked it less this time. his voice is unsatisfactory
голос артиста достал на первой песне, нудный
Kerrassaan ärsyttävä ääni. Let's Not and Say We Did soolo oli ihan hauska. Ei muuta sanottavaa.
Why do I have to listen to so many whining men?
Decent album, but I didn't really dig the guy's vocals; they worked sometimes and didn't others. But a nice record with a healthy country influence. There was one track that actually had a cool electric guitar riff, wish there was more of that.
Maso
The Transylvania rock song was awesome, the rest was fine
It's weird, it's quirky and in some ways pretentious. Sounds like soppy whisky sodden music for sitting on a porch or a couch reflecting on what went wrong. The songwriting is very witty, sad, the lyricism is poetic and wistful but not brooding. Everything about the instrumentation feels warm and melancholic throughout, somewhere between indie rock and country. David Berman's voice isn't conventionally good, he sounds real, raw and honest, which can get hard to get used to, and in fact the songs can sound tiresome and mundane at first, but it's the right voice for these songs. Overall this isn't an amazing album for me, but there's something about it that keeps me listening and I want to seek out more of their other songs, so I guess I like it in some way? I cant quite figure out why and how I feel about this yet, but I'm interested enough to explore more of their work so I am going to continue listening until I figure that out. A few tracks that stood were Horseleg Swastikas and Transylvania Blues. Let’s Not and Say We Did caught me off guard, a honky tonk song appearing out of nowhere, somehow still fitting within the album.
Pretty sure it was a choice to sing off key. “Transylvania Blues” shows he had talent, but this album strays far into hipster country, and it just doesn’t work.
Oof. I do not like this guy's Kentucky-Fried mumble voice. The music is fine; the female vocalist is fine. The success of this album clearly rests with the lead singer, and for me, it's a massive miss. This is not a voice I want to listen to. Insufferable.
Boring singing
After just listening to Morrissey I had hopes this would be better. After the song ‘slow education’ it got progressively worse
2/5
2/5
Honestly I am too tired to even think about this one today. So I'll keep it short. Bland, boring. no. 2/5
2.5 stars This sounds like an album I’d pretend to like in high school but really never finish. It’s not bad but there’s so much music that sounds like this and I don’t really want to listen to it.
Wow. Maybe I need to go into this project with lowest expectations, or at the very least, realize that most people truly cannot write and/or sing well. Then when I get something good that I’ve never heard before, it gives me renewed faith that there’s more to gain from life. This album is not entirely unlistenable, but I’ve heard enough.
Didn’t connect to this album. Some high points including Tennessee however the album as a whole didn’t work for me. Found it quite dull and didn’t engage me. I wasn’t familiar with this band until this album and so listened to some other albums which I preferred.
It's like an older, more haggard Tom Waits. Or a less haggard Nick Cave, with consequently less mythical appeal. This guy's voice both sounds tired and makes the listener feel tired well before the end of the album. At times it's bearable, but in certain songs (Time Will Break The World, Tennessee) it causes the singing to be completely and horrendously out of tune. Some may call it experimental art; I call it holding modern music to a higher standard because earlier artists figured out already that singing out of tune sounds bad. A band from 2001 should know better. Another reviewer correctly identified that the music is "so wearing and wearisome ... that these hangdog vocals overshadow everything else. In an already muted soundscape, such a lugubrious performance merely serves to poison the well." One of my highlights ends up being the instrumental Transylvania Blues, in part because the vocals are absent and in part because the atmosphere is a bit more lively and honky-tonk than in the others. The two opening tracks, Slow Education & Room Games and Diamond Rain, are also "standouts" (at a stretch) because at that point you're still holding out hope that Berman's just going through a phase. (He isn't.) The musicianship throughout is listenable enough, but nothing exciting or outstanding. The album flow is passable. I would've liked to hear more interesting melodies in either vocal or guitar lines. 2/5 Key tracks: Slow Education, Room Games and Diamond Rain, Transylvania Blues
шо за блюз аля том уэйтс
It’s not that bad but it’s not good either. This album feels like the worst parts of Wilco A.M. album. Songs sound very similar and this didn’t hold my attention. Top tracks: “Room Games and Diamond Rain,” “Transylvania Blues”
No clue what this is. I assume it is some kind of LES rap rock thing. Let's see how wrong I am! /Starts song 1 Lmao I was waaaay off.
--Slow Education...the lyrics come through nice and clear. The song? meh --Room Games and Diamond Rain...pleasant. the guitar was nice --Time Will Break the World...your enjoyment of this song is probably dependent on how much you like the lyrics and vocals. I don't --I Remember Me...I think I understand how this dude and Stephen Malkmus originally hooked up. I can hear Beavis yell "Try more!" while listening to this --Horseleg Swastikas...plodding --Transylvania Blues...an instrumental to remind you that this is a band. it's nice --Let's Not and Say We Did...a fun piano groove --Tennessee..."you're the only ten I see"? really? --Friday Night Fever...generic country --Death of an Heir of Sorrows...hate the title, song just kind of exists
This one was fine. A couple of songs caught my attention with the remainder blending into one. Probably not one I’ll return to
No, you do not need to listen to this album before you die.
Un poco plano, pero no está mal.
Imagine to series indie with RHCP lyrics……
Thought I would love this but I just can't.
Meh.. voice reminds me of Kurt Vile, and that's no compliment. Why is this on the list?
At first blush, don’t love it. My theory is that there’s more than meets the eye. Probably need to come back later.