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Product Description
Review
L.A noise-mongers Silversun Pickups are getting very popular. Maybe it's because they sound like other very popular bands that aren't around anymore. This record, if not an homage, scoops the flesh from the Smashing Pumpkins' head and puts a candle inside: Singer/guitarist Brian Aubert pitches it between Billy Corgan and the other great angst warbler, Brian Molko and sometimes, really means it.
It's an O.K album of 11 songs with good titles. The noise is great, Aubert getting sounds from his guitar like some massive nuclear bumble bee crashing into a pylon, and the keyboard laying down some Jeff Wayne style textures. Lyrically though, the record is a screaming wheel of fortune clicking its way through totally meaningless: 'What was that scar situated from afar/ What was that light integrated in your mind' (''Well Thought Out Twinkles''), to prog-folk: 'As her wooden bones grew through her skin / Crumbled naturally' from ''Dream At Tempo 119''.
One of the things about music and lyrics being aimless and vague is that you can project whatever you want onto them. And as long as there are lost, heartbroken youth, there will always be an audience for this kind of music, elusive but accessible, loud and layered. SSPU have nearly cracked it but not quite. While ''Little Lover's So Polite'' is well constructed, ''Checkered Floor'' is a bad song about a floor. Hmm... ''Future Foe Scenario'' sees Aubert get agitated and it's good to hear him have a bit of a scream but it's ordinary until the last verse where things get a bit more interesting; the guitar really burning and the emotional core wriggling out from under those oblique sentiments. Even if it is derivative in style and content I have to say that that boy gets some elephantine tones out of his rig and they might well be onto something.
And they're here now, in this country until the beginning of June. So if you do go to see them remember to watch the stage and not your shoes because, apparently, they're very good. --Greg McLaren
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Lots of Smashing Pumpkins comparisons for Silversun Pickups which are valid but the mix of fuzzy basslines, honeysweet vocals and just the right amount of guitar makes this album a joy and a bit of a dark horse. There is a fair amount of variety across the 11 tracks and whilst Smashing Pumpkins spring to mind quickly, scratch the surface and other influences and styles are evident.
For me, there are three absolute standout tracks. The awesome Lazy Eye, built around a driving bassline and layered guitars with a stretched vocal, built to a crescendo then brought back under control. Just an excellent 6 minutes that will reverberate around your mind once you have heard it. Little Lover's So Polite fizzes with fuzz and drips with decadence but underneath it all is a simple pop song. The closer Common Reactor is the third standout track, again a great pop song given a quirky twist.
Silversun Pickups may not be the most original band you will ever hear, but what they do, they do very very well and apparently with great sincerity.
If you are a fan of Smashing Pumpkins, Buffalo Tom, MBV, or anything similar, this record merits further investigation.
For me, there are three absolute standout tracks. The awesome Lazy Eye, built around a driving bassline and layered guitars with a stretched vocal, built to a crescendo then brought back under control. Just an excellent 6 minutes that will reverberate around your mind once you have heard it. Little Lover's So Polite fizzes with fuzz and drips with decadence but underneath it all is a simple pop song. The closer Common Reactor is the third standout track, again a great pop song given a quirky twist.
Silversun Pickups may not be the most original band you will ever hear, but what they do, they do very very well and apparently with great sincerity.
If you are a fan of Smashing Pumpkins, Buffalo Tom, MBV, or anything similar, this record merits further investigation.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
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.
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.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Ah yes, this is my `alternative' American indie rock album of the 2007. Silversun Pickups come from Los Angeles and have delivered the best guitar noise album of the year by miles. Like a more melodic and less annoying `Smashing Pumpkins', Carnavas is a great record. It's very powerful, kicks some dust and actually has something to say.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
silversun pickups carnavas
This is really an excellent cd, not much heard about them now but this is a real cd to own.
Published 8 months ago by P. De Kuyper
Best album I've heard for a while!
Critics were very dimissive about this album when it came out - claiming it was a grunge/shoegaze throwback. However, this is one of the most exiting records I've heard in ages. Read more
Published on 22 April 2008 by Monkey Man
Astonishingly good
As usual I ordered the CD on the strength of one single I'd heard on 6music a few times. A lot of the times I do this I'm rewarded by patchy albums with one or two decent songs. Read more
Published on 25 Sep 2007 by B. Twomey
By far the best release of the year
Remember the days when you had a 'favorite band' and listening to their new release was genuinely exciting? Well the SSPUs brought that feeling back to me. Read more
Published on 13 Sep 2007 by S. Tual
really good album
I bought this having only heard 1 track 'Little Lover's so Polite' and am now playing it all the time. Read more
Published on 12 Sep 2007 by Jane
love it
I realy like this album it is realy fresh and inventive and displays a lot of musical competancy. The drums and bass are realy tight in a way that reminds me of placebos first... Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2007 by P. VINCE
Cool
Sort of reminds me of the Pixies a bit and the hooks and melodies aren't always apparent at first listen - which is good because the more you listen the better it gets. Read more
Published on 22 Aug 2007 by Gerry Murphy
Its ok
This album definitely has potential.
The guitars are decent and there are some decent moments in the album.
It sets a good atmosphere. Read more
The guitars are decent and there are some decent moments in the album.
It sets a good atmosphere. Read more
Published on 5 July 2007 by Vanman
Retrogrunge
The Silversun Pickups are definitely classic-grunge revivalists -- much of the time, they sound like gauze-wrapped version of a very solid grunge band. Read more
Published on 3 Feb 2007 by E. A Solinas
the new shoegaze-grunge revival starts here!
where to start? easily my album of the year, it mixes great stoner fuzz riffs with buzzing electro sweeps and feedback sonic youth would give their dentures for, along with sweet... Read more
Published on 30 Nov 2006 by Mr. S. G. Chatterton
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