Berber - Lower Goes the Roof Beam (1998, Monocle)

The title of this album naggingly rings of a certain J.D. Salinger novel, but there's nothing Caulfield-esque about Chicago's presumably defunct Berber, who specialized in clangy, deftly crafted indie rock.  Michael Justin Cummin's vocals (a la Mac McCaughan, and Dean Wareham) are a tad fey and thin for his own good, but it adds to the mid-fi pitch and sway of Lower Goes the Roof Beam.  "Into My Life" sports it's fair share of buoyant, twee pop moxie, and a little further on we have the fleeting, "Betimes" which could pass for a vintage Game Theory outtake.  In short, this bargain bin selection was more than a pleasant surprise.

01. Agents of Her Inertia
02. Forget Tonight
03. Tired Very Tired
04. Into My Life
05. Rend
06. Betimes
07. Modla Lane
08. Albatross
09. Knees (Two Different Ones)
10. Nuclear Era Steel Thing
11. Mattress

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