3.20.2010

CD REVIEW: Silversun Pickups "Swoon"

This band could have been huge in the 1990's. But, since they're here now, they might as well be huge now. Well, this new album is going to take the success of their previous album and amp it up a bit. Silversun Pickups, who are the current generation's incarnation of Smashing Pumpkins, are making inventive alternative rock that is both familiar and original. There are currently no bands making popular music that sound at all like Silversun Pickups. This means that their songs are going to stand out from all the rest when they are played on the radio. And this album is full of radio hits. The first single "Panic Switch" took off, showing the band's harder edge which they previously failed to flaunt with singles from their album "Carnavas." Other incredibly cool songs include "Substitution," "There's No Secrets This Year," "The Royal We," and "Growing Old Is Getting Old." It's probably true that the band will have to stretch their talents to match the sound and success of "Lazy Eye," but they have managed to create an album that is superior as a whole to all their previous albums.