Silkworm: Blueblood ---Ink Blot Magazine

Silkworm: Blueblood

at a glance...

Hometown: Missoula, MO
Year Formed: 1987

Members:
Andy Cohen -guitar
Michael Dahlquist -drums
Tim Midgett -bass, baritone, and regular guitar

Bands In The Family:
Ein Heit, Comsat Angels, The Crust Brothers, Joel R.L. Phelps, Pavement

Notes:
Silkworm's universe is one of drunken ballads, barroom brawls, high school crushes, proletarian emotion, high and low-brow humour, and nostalgia. Silkworm have braved the tempestuous waters of the indie world since 1987, steering a course through a bevvy of 7" singles and odds & ends, and churning out six full lengths, starting with L'ajre on their own Temporary Freedom label (1992). This was followed by In The West on C/Z (1994), Libertine on El Recordo (1994), Firewater (1996) and Developer (1997) on Matador, and Blueblood and Lifestyle on Touch and Go. Since the loss of co-founding member Joel R.L. Phelps in 1994, the trio has refined, stripped down, and simplified their sound. Somehow their 1) heart-wrenching songwriting, 2) lyrics ranging from the existential to the downright silly, 3) early career-launching move to the 'big city' of Seattle and 4) strict regimen of steady touring have managed to get them a mere sliver of the recognition they deserve.

Silkworm
Blueblood
Touch and Go, Released 1998

As usual, our boys have released a work of romanticism, melancholia, and desperation. Songs like the beautiful "Said It Too Late" ("The only reason that I won't die is that I won't see you on the other side"), the catchy "Empty Elevator Shaft," and the Andy Cohen-crooned ballad "Beyond Repair" are the real keepers. This album breaks their four-album streak of records with Steve Albini, and coupled with an increasingly two-guitar approach (as opposed to guitar and bass), this strips them of one of their greatest strengths - that soulful bassline cutting through the mix.

This won't be the record that finally cracks Silkworm out of their role of most unappreciated heroes of the indie world. (If any record would have done it, it would have been their previous record, Developer). As Tim Midgett puts it in the liner notes of their compilation double record Even a Blind Chicken Finds a Kernel of Corn Now and Then, "This is for fans of our band. Like the guy in Berlin who played L'ajre every morning for five years, until he moved on to Developer." I wouldn't bet the family farm on it, but I doubt said Berliner is going to be switching to Blueblood. It's one of those albums which, if it were by a band you had never heard of, you would love - but when you've been inspired by Silkworm's finest moments in the past, it just doesn't measure up.

If you like Silkworm, check out:
Silkworm Developer
Silkworm Lifestyle
The Crust Brothers Marquee Mark
Archers of Loaf Vee Vee
Haywood Men Called Him Mister
Vic Chesnutt The Salesman and Bernadette
Hugh Brave Little Soldier

-- Lars Rosenblum Sorgenfrei

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