The Silversun Pickups are definitely classic-grunge revivalists -- much of the time, they sound like gauze-wrapped version of a very solid grunge band. With those nice grimy, twisty riffs, "Carnavas" is a nice, rockin' little debut album with some pleasant creative moments.
It opens with the buzzing basslines and choral voices of "Melatonin," buzzing and murmuring through a moderately epic melody. "She ran into the wall/so sweet and unknown/a worn comatose," Brian Aubert croons in a high, mellow voice that sounds pleasantly Billy Corganish.
But things get harder with the sizzling smash-it-down quality of "Well Thought Out Twinkies," blasting thunderbass over a bed of solid drums. From there, they dabble in other grungey styles -- grimy slow-burners, elusively shimmery rockers, and even a catchy, relatively mellow guitar-pop song or two.
It's easy to compare the Silversun Pickups to the Smashing Pumpkins, but they don't really sound too much like them (especially since there's no "wall of bass" sound here). Their music has a solidarity of its own, and there are moments that hint at future expansion -- epic riffs, the interplay of the instruments, and the haunted air of the whole thing.
Musically, it has some good tight rock rhythms -- sprawling, gauzy, dirty riffs and roiling basslines, paired with smashing drums and a sublte interplay of keyboard and riffs. But some songs dispense with the bass for the time being, and use ethereal, fragile-sounding synth waves instead.
Aubert has a nice, smooth voice that is has a pleasantly androgynous sound, and he never gets buried in the solid rock sound here. The lyrics do need work, though -- they tend to be rather simplistic ("and it feels just like the ground/and trapped in another way/just still in the ground"), and could use a more refinement.
The Silversun Pickups are still rough in "Carnavas," but they show some good musical skills and plenty of promise. Solid full-length debut.
