In 2009, Silver Jews frontman David Berman announced his retirement from music, saying, “I always said we would stop before we got bad. If I continue to record I might accidentally write the answer song to ‘Shiny Happy People.’” And since playing a final concert in January of that year, the band has been silent, apart from a 2012 singles compilation.
Now, six years later, Silver Jews fans may have reason to be both shiny and happy, as it seems the band has reunited. Drummer Bob Nastanovich posted a photo on his Facebook page, saying the group had just finished rehearsing. He later acknowledged the band had two new songs in the works, “The Veranda Over The Toy Shoppe,” and “Wacky Package Eyes.”
No word yet on when, or even whether these songs will be heard outside the rehearsal room, as Nastanovich said they’d be “binned” if they didn’t meet the band’s standards. He also said not to expect a tour: Berman is notoriously averse to playing live, and the band has only played one major tour in its history.
Nastanovich co-founded Silver Jews in 1989 alongside Berman and Stephen Malkmus, roughly around the same time the latter two also founded Pavement. Nastanovich has split time between both bands, while Malkmus only returned to the Jews for 1998’s terrific American Water.
[via Pitchfork]