This week’s edition of Auxtra Weekly is a bit different. Instead of diving into a specific genre, we’ll take a look at music associated with silver. Songs, albums, entire band identities are linked to the precious metal. Symbolic of its malleability, a vast catalogue spanning nearly every genre pays homage to atomic number 47. We’ll explore 80s alternative rock, 60s electronic rock, 90s indie rock, and much more.
— Will Thomas

“Silver” by the legendary English alt-rock band Echo and the Bunnymen is a triumphant celebration of taking life’s calamities in stride. From the jump, we’re treated to lead singer Ian McCulloch’s rose-colored point of view, filled with images of boisterous nights out and a love whose power extinguishes all fear and doubt.

Swinging from chandeliers and viewing his world on a “silver salver,” McCulloch’s idealistic image grounds itself when he speaks of the manner in which he achieved it.

“Bailed out my worst fears 'cause man has to be his own saviour,” McCulloch croons. His optimism isn’t coincidence; it’s a result of his shift from external to internal validation. Yet, he leaves space for one person, who serves as proof to McCulloch that life, despite all its strife, can produce something worth living for.

McCulloch’s lyrics are charmingly naive. He paints a vivid picture where stress and grief can all be mitigated through love. While a naive sentiment, his buoyant style of singing married with the band’s signature lush, atmospheric orchestration forces the listener’s hand–you can’t help but root for him.

For fans of: Joy Division; The Jesus and Mary Chain; Talking Heads; David Bowie

Silver Apples play the soundtrack to an alien abductee’s return to earth. Strange oscillators emit foreign waves like a crashed satellite. Off-kilter vocals and drumming create an eerie, otherworldly listening experience where existence is no longer bound by the limits of time and space.

The bulk of Silver Apples’ cult following originates from their self-titled debut album, released in 1968. Their debut was a stimulus package in a time where rock was slowly creeping towards a more progressive sound. Songs like “Whirly Bird” and “Lovefingers” all feel like a non-human lifeform trying to sing about human emotions. A heavy reliance on radio samples and homemade synthesizers only amplifies the extraterrestrial tone.

Their second album “Contact,” bolstered their unique sound. Songs like “I Have Known Love” reminisce on human pleasures from the view of someone long detached from flesh and bone. “You and I” is a fuzz-laden journey where existence extends beyond linear time.

Silver Apples are a band out of time, whose sound is, ironically enough, timeless.

For fans of: Faust; Can; XTC

On paper, Silver Jews shouldn’t work. A poet with a less than stellar voice singing about life through abstract, difficult to discern remarks. A band whose legacy was often diminished to a Pavement side project as original band members Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich played in both.

But, true to lead singer David Berman’s lyrics in “We are Real,” “All my favorite singers couldn’t sing,” Silver Jews’ raw, unabashed sound is the source of their charm. They aren’t putting up a facade, they’re not changing their sound to fit the times. They are who they are, a group of ragtag University of Virginia graduates who slowly gained a cult following thanks to their authenticity and sheer love of the medium.

Their instrumentation carries a lo-fi, country twang, and Malkmus’s backing vocals create a sour-and-sweet vocal harmony that accents Berman’s sardonic musings.

Berman is a poet at heart. His lyrics don’t hold your hand down a guided trail–they run just in front of you, out of sight, disappearing around corners. The listener is tasked with finding their own meaning, and maybe that’s why so many Silver Jews songs still resonate to this day. Their interpretations are malleable–they bend and warp depending on whoever’s listening.

For fans of: Songs: Ohia; Built to Spill; Elliot Smith; MJ Lenderman