Lifestyle
(Touch and Go)
Silkworm was headed down the flusher. Since the departure of guitarist Joel R.L. Phelps in 1995, their albums had gotten progressively worse: 1996’s Firewater ---a semi-song cycle about booze, was very good, 1997’s Developer---a hit and miss search for a cogent trio sound was just average---and 1998’s Blueblood ---a stab at...well, not much, was morose and lethargic. That the trio, bassist Tim Midgett, guitarist Andy Cohen and drummer Michael Dahlquist, have rebounded so strongly with their latest recording is nearly reason enough for longtime fans to run naked through the streets, shouting at the top of your lungs. Lifestyle speaks volumes about the worth of the Worm.
The initial indication that things may have turned around is the second track, “Slave Wages”, a classic Midgett number that features a pair of dueling guitar tracks (recalling the Phelps era), and is confirmed by “Treat the New Guy Right”, which is laced with the kind of sly, richly evocative Silkworm lyrics that are such a joy: “Sheets are red because the bed is on fire/when the plane touched down/it blew a tire/that was just the start of a wild weekend”. An uncredited female voice adds lilt to the song, and that touch is one of several palette expanding moves that gives Lifestyle the extra sonic heft that is clear evidence the boys are still committed to taking their tightly-riveted trio rock as far as they can. The piano tinkles that first appeared on Blueblood are carefully expanded, and the inclusion of a stripped-bare, moving version of The Faces’ “Ooh-La-La” greatly enhances the disc’s stylistic sweep. In addition, two moving reminiscences, “Plain” and “Yr Web” are superbly crafted, threatening to explode at any moment, but more effective because they’re left to smolder.
Lifestyle doesn’t hit the soaring highs of the band’s tip-top moment, the still-stunning Libertine, and lacks the emotionally jarring sweep of Firewater, but that’s ok. The fact that this is the best Silkworm record in years is enough to make it an unqualified triumph.
Time Out New York, 2000
