Artist · chart history · #773 in indie & aaa artist polls
Silver Jews
Band Charlottesville United States Active 1989–2009
Silver Jews formed in 1989 in Charlottesville, United States and was active until 2009. Silver Jews has 2 chart appearances on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations on RockLists, spanning 2006–2024. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Random Rules”, which appears on 1 list with a best position of #314. The station that charted Silver Jews most often is KEXP (Seattle, WA), with 1 appearance.
Silver Jews started in 1989 as David Berman's band, with Pavement's Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich along for the ride, and it stayed his band to the end: Berman was the only member who never left. His voice was a deadpan drawl and his songs were wry, weary and funny in a way that made you laugh and then feel it in your gut about a minute later.
American Water, from 1998 on Drag City, is where it all comes together. "Random Rules" is a loping, lopsided country-rock shuffle with Berman sounding like a barstool philosopher who has seen too much and still hasn't learned a thing.
Over the years the lineup took in Duane Denison, Paz Lenchantin, Steve West, Mike Fellows, Paul Niehaus and Tony Crow on keyboards, and Cassie Berman became a regular fixture on the last few albums. The band called it quits in 2009.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Silver Jews on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Random Rules | 1 | #314 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 314 | Random Rules | The Best Opening Tracks of All Time |
| 2006 | 776 | Artist ranking | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Artists (2006) |
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