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First off, a bit of backstory. Silversun Pickups come from Los Angeles' Silver Lake district, home to a
diverse yet interesting range of artists (the most notable of which include
Elliot Smith, Rilo Kiley, Henry Rollins, members of Pavement and the Yeah
Yeah Yeahs' Karen O). Their name derives from the name of a local
shopping mall, and they are signed to local label Dangerhouse Records.
Swoon is their second full-length release, following their 2006 debut
Carnavas.
Lead singer Brian Aubert's curious vocal style is most often likened to
Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan and there is, indeed, a
noticeable Pumpkins feel to much of the material here. Equally, though,
echoes of other singers like Conor Oberst (in the tremulous, slightly
fey delivery), or even Scritti Politti's Green Garside can
also be heard, countering accusations that this is in any way a deliberate
impersonation.
The distinctive, earnest-sounding and sometimes rather whiney singing is
offset by the ballsy guitar and bass playing. Particularly heavy riffage
features on the impact-making opener There's No Secrets This Year, and is
also strewn throughout the album on tracks like The Royal We and Sort Of.
They also hint at their axe-wielding heroes/influences by obliquely
namechecking Led Zeppelin, using the lyric "When the levees break" in
It's Nice To Know You Work Alone. Bass guitar lines are often featured
to the fore and add a touch of funk, as on Growing
Old, Panic Switch and Catch & Release.
Their music is all very serious in tone and,
presumably, in intent. A lot of the lyricism is of the "sufficiently vague
that it could mean one of a number of things" school, but it's occasionally
just plain weak: "When there's smoke in the sky / Please don't wake me I
don't know why" (from Sort Of), for example. The mood evoked is often
either one of wistfulness (It's Nice To Know You Work Alone, Draining,
Substitution, Catch & Release) or a sort of catch-all ill-defined
portentousness that often tips over into melodrama (The Royal We, Panic
Switch, Sort Of).
This can become a little wearisome, but where Silversun Pickups score
much more highly is on their way with a melody. The tunes in the likes of
There's No Secrets This Year, It's Nice To Know You Work Alone, Sort Of and
the well-structured closing track Surrounded all are of that type that
manage to creep into your subconscious and then bedding down there, to
reappear, unsummoned, at unguarded moments.
Swoon, then, is a mixed listening experience, with the solemnity and
over-seriousness of the general tone and the occasionally grating nature of
that voice being more or less mitigated by some lovely melodies and
first-rate guitar riffs. Negotiating the grey area between rock and, well,
indie-rock, it is to be hoped that Swoon doesn't find itself falling between
the two. Rather, as seems more likely, it'll pick up fans from adherents of
both.
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