- Artists:
- Silversun Pickups »
- Label:
- Warner Bros. »
Listening to this album makes me feel old.
It seems such a long time ago I was coerced into listening to the newly released Machina album by my cooler-than-thou school mates. “Who is this baldy weirdo and why does he sing like someone’s shoved a 9-iron up his arse without so much as a ‘How’s your father’?” was my initial thought.
That’s not, you’d imagine, the same story that Silversun Pickups’ Brian Aubert would recall. Instead, I’m stuck with the disturbing mental image of a pubescent Aubert frolicking through playing fields, googly-eyed, holding aloft a magazine clipping of his po-faced idol, ecstatic that someone in the public eye finally ‘gets’ him.
Yes, I’m talking here about The Smashing Pumpkins and their divisive frontman Billy Corgan. His presence (rather than influence) seeps into the pores of Swoon, to such an extent that it invades everything from Aubert’s croaky wail, to the bassy fuzz of the guitars, to the outsider-with-superiority-complex lyrics. If imitation really is the highest form of flattery, Silversun Pickups must surely be his new favourite band.
All of which, would be halfway forgivable if the songs here matched the arena-sized hooks of Siamese Dream. It’s pretty clear from the word go that they don’t come close. Take the clumsy single ‘Panic Switch’ that barrels along at its hectic pace for almost six minutes without delivering a single memorable hook; or worse, the sonic dishwater that is ‘Growing Old Is Getting Old’ – a typically vague Corgan-esque title if ever there was one – a prime example of how to fall flat whilst gazing at one’s shoes. The whole sprawling mess sounds so painfully LA, so spiritually bankrupt and superficial that it feels strange that it lacks even a surface level enjoyment factor.
Some of this album is so bad (particularly the unbearable death wail of ‘Draining’) that the odd time the band actually delivers a half-formed melody, it’s hard not to get overexcited. Opener ‘There’s No Secrets This Year’ falls into the category of not-so-awful, as does the undulating ‘Substitution’, the only real point of levity in the record’s second half.
But that’s not to suggest there are any signs of evolution within Silversun Pickups. It is difficult to imagine any green shoots of individuality following Swoon, so entrenched it remains in its influences. Even a past-it Smashing Pumpkins ‘reunion’ with only Corgan remaining is more acceptable than this awful mimickery and that’s not a good place for a band to be.
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This is one of the most irritating bands I have ever heard.
I've said it before
and I'll say it again; Silversun Pickups attain the same giddy heights of Smashin-Pumpkins-apery as Our Lady peace.
http://open.spotify.com/user/jonny_rat/playlist/3vKhwewAIBUErwaaynlSmF
shit is uncanny yo
bit harsh
it's definitely more unsubtly SP-aping than the first album, and lacking a lot of the big hooks, but I'd still give it at least a 6. It does feel at times like they're shouting "LOOK AT THIS FUCKING RIFF" at you though.
A 3?
well you're wrong
I think its pretty guilt free ace magic fun :D
We need more albums like this
wrong wrong wrong
...it's a solid 8
3?!
I love this album! I won't deny the SP sounds, but if you like SP, as I do, I can't see why this is a bad thing.
's weird
I really don't like the Smashing Pumpkins at all but I really love Silversun Pickups. to bits. I can see why people keep comparing the two, but I really wish they wouldn't. the Silversuns are so much sharper, I think, and Aubert's voice I find less grating and whiny and shrill and waily. Billy Corgan sounds to me a bit like a crying newborn, but I think Brian Aubert's got more depth to his voice. Swoon wasn't as good as Carnavas in that Carnavas had a few fantastic songs, while Swoon is more consistent and stable over tracks but nothing really stands out the way Twinkles, Checkered Floor, Little Lover etc. did.
Objectively I'd give it a 6.5 on first listen, but for me it's a biased 8. And Carnavas is a 9.5
bollocks to you then
I was massively disappointed by this album the first couple of times, teeth gnashingly kick the cat disappointed but after a while it really does work its magic and sink its hooks in. I'm a lifelong Pumpkin fan and the comparisons are just really really lazy journalism, I really don't see much of a comparison apart from on the surface. There are two completely duffer tracks on this, Panic Switch and the last one Surrounded but the rest of it stands up/surpasses the last album but a 3 is the hallmark of someone that listened once and judged. Is it cos the NME gave them a high mark and Warners are pushing them a bit more than a band of their stature should be (the guitar hero thing, AOL airtime, lots of PR?)
Swoon doesn't grab me like Carnavas
but it's still fair. This review reads like how I hear Airborne Toxic Event. Those fuckers annoy the hell out of me.
Oh. And I feel compelled to point out our spiritually bankrupt town has some pretty good bands these days. Y'know, ATE notwithstanding. Plus, it's 72F and sunny year round, which if we're destined to Hell, seems like a pretty fair trade-off.
...
Haha, good point! For the record, I enjoyed a few of the early songs, particularly 'Lazy Eye' and 'Kissing Families', but there's not one song that matches up to those on Swoon. I also saw them live recently and had to leave because they were so dull and worthy. Oh and agreed... ATE are bloody horrible!
i love Carnavas so much
but Swoon really disappointed me
I would definitly say this is my favourite film of the year so far
definitly a good 8/10
Three?
THREE?
No assuming that one cannot have a 0/10 review score, a score of THREE means bang inbetween "entirely without merit" and "average". Poor in fact. This album is far from poor.
Shame on you sir. Shame.
3?
Are you on crack?
I seem to be having a crisis
with DIS at the moment. They seem to hate every new thing I've loved.
Fair enough...
the lyrics may not be brilliant. But the music is pretty good. 3 out of 10? Honest to God.
One of my favourite albums so far this year.
Fair enough...
the lyrics may not be brilliant. But the music is pretty good. 3 out of 10? Honest to God.
One of my favourite albums so far this year.
Obviously I was very keen to post a reply.....
that or it's proof that my broadband connection is indeed pants.....
Just to echo a couple things...
As usual, the whole this band sounds just like 'Band X' thing is simplistic and overblown. I get that there's a certain something that reminds one of the Pumpkins, but I really don't think they sound that much alike on the whole.
And yes, this album is a bit monotonous compared to the last one. But 3 seems low. That's one of the lowest scores I've seen on DiS. I actually really like Panic Switch, and Substitution (rightly called out as the best track above) alone should bump this score up to at least a 5.
By the by, one of the best features on DiS, something I always wished Pitchfork would incorporate, is allowing for readers to comment on a review. Adds some much needed balance.
eh??
This is one of the first reviews on this site to which I have a completely opposite opinion to the reviewer! I love this album, it will be high on my end of year lists, weirdly enough Panic Switch is one of my favourite tracks on it! Ah well, subjectivity and all, it's an 8 for me.
Lazy reviewer listens to album once, whilst doing the washing up
The review says more about the reviewer than the record. It's like judging Angelina Jolie by the crustiness of her gusset. I've been buying new music a lot recently, and this quite simply is the best release this year. I find myself continuously sliding it inside the CD player as I drive, and leaving my ipod at home.
lulz
"Opener ‘There’s No Secrets This Year’ falls into the category of not-so-awful"
So you complain about them sounding too much like Smashing Pumpkins throughout your whole review, and then the one song you like is...the most Smashing Pumpkins sounding song on the album?!?!?
A lesson for bands out there. It's ok to rip off Pavement, Sonic Youth, Pet Sounds, and the Pixies. Just not the Smashing Pumpkins God forbid. Because a band having a core influence is such a new thing. Make sure it's the right one.
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