The Silver Jews' third album, American Water, is no Pavement record, though it could certainly play one on TV. Pavement's Stephen Malkmus co-wrote two of the songs here, and his calculatedly slack guitar colors most of this record. But when singer-songwriter David Berman steps out from Malkmus' shadow and into his own indie-cowpoke groove, he lights up the place with his deep, almost Johnny Cashian voice and bright narrative skills. He wraps hard truths in soft humor in songs like "Buckingham Rabbit" ("So the rent became whiskey/And then my life became risky") and the hokily romantic "Honk if You're Lonely." On "People," Berman also shows a nose for life's small, odd pleasures ("I love to see a rainbow from a garden hose/Lit up like the blood of a centerfold"). On American Water, Silver Jews come across like quirky populist poets holding court at the only decent bar in a redneck town. (RS 799)

MARK HEALY