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Swoon - by The Silversun Pickups

Posted at 5:16 PM on March 28, 2011 by The Current
Filed under: CD Reviews, CD of the Week

Silversun Pickups

The Silversun Pickups debut "Carnavas," released in 2006,  was a slow burn hit, building it's reputation organically with constant touring on both sides of the Atlantic rather than through a blog bonfire. This year they did get a bit of buzz from SXSW, but it's funny now to see their tour itinerary contain just a few big festivals - Coachella, Sasquatch, All Points West - as if they are declaring that they have to be heard on a gigantic sound system in the middle of a big field on a hot day!  That's an ambitious way to try to survive the sophomore slump! Will they succeed? As they say at the end of track seven, appropriately entitled "sort of "... "Is it way beyond our reach?" Perhaps. 

They try to do what every LA band should. There's no California sound to be a part of, even the famous Silver Lake neighborhood, home to so many musicians, has no definable signature sound. But it strikes me that if Hollywood makes movies that need to be global hits, but which are still quintessentially American, then Silversun Pickups seem to be trying to do the same musically. Their sound could literally come from anywhere in the world. They could be a bunch of scruffy Mancunians or a street-smart clique of Japanese teens, as long as they love My Bloody Valentine and Smashing Pumpkins, are respectful of Sonic Youth, and like hints of the shy delivery of Death Cab for Cutie. It will sound great on the radio anywhere on the planet because of the rock archetypes that it trades in: epic, mysterious and grand.

Brian Aubert's vocals do remind me of The Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan without too much affectation. He uses audible intakes of breath as a rhythmic device. He knows how to mould a wonderful swirling wall of guitar sounds, but it's the actual rhythm section that lifts the songs and make them literally bounce. Nikki Monninger's bass brings out the highlights of "panic switch". Christopher Guanlao elevates "sort of"  by making you wonder where the drums are going to go next.

As an album, it is nicely paced. "it's nice to know you work alone" (track 4) is a subtle change of pace, with some nice vocal harmony which happens too rarely in today's music. The slow ballad of "draining" (track 6) adds a nice dynamic range. At ten songs, Swoon knows when to leave, but the last song should be optimistic.  The lyrics suggest paranoia; "is it perfect in our little world....we're surrounded, let's demonize our softest injuries...is it perfect in our little hell." Perhaps they are putting too much pressure on themselves to succeed beyond their fine beginnings, trying to make the great American music to sell to the rest of the world. Rather than sitting in a field all day to see them, get your headphones, a few soft pillows, and swoon.

Mark Wheat, Host
As an added bonus, Program Director Jim McGuinn hosted a Theft of the Dial with the members of Silversun Pickups at this year's South by Southwest. You can only listen to the entire session here!

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