![]() Usually you can tell the identity of an album within the first four tracks, or at most in the first half of the album. Please can you summon up, a ll of your better nature.” Most importantly, Silversun Pickups remain interesting and, deservedly, music fans will want to see what they come up with next.“Help me swallow up, a ll of your better nature. They remain challenging and effortless exponents of pop-rock hooks and taught energy. The record’s faults lie only in its lack of faults. This is, of course, intentional.īut, luckily for Silversun Pickups and their immense talent, what a fan gets out of Better Nature is based purely on personal taste. Overall, Better Nature lacks the sense of urgency and danger – even anger – that they’re capable of. As a result, no song takes you by the throat in the same way as Swoon‘s ‘The Royal We’ or ‘Panic Switch’, or Neck‘s ‘Mean Spirits’. ![]() The edge of the quartet’s previous records – that irresistibly jagged edge that gave their music its immediacy – has been laminated over with Lee at the helm. ![]() But even both sides of the coin might agree that the near-perfect production on this record is ultimately alienating. For some the record will require repeated listens, for others it will demand them – and there are rewards for those that persevere. Silversun Pickups have challenged both themselves and their listeners on Better Nature. His aching, fragile delivery exudes pain and longing, which builds tension on ‘Ragamuffin”s slow-building clouds of synth, and his image-rich lyrics and ability to craft a climactic rock stomper are captured on the album’s six-minute highlight ‘Tapedeck’. Aubert’s sharp, haunted vocals are always evocative. Very few modern, popular rock bands have the ability to craft dark, beguiling mood and atmosphere like Silversun Pickups. A traditional approach to melding instruments has been blurred on Better Nature, with synths and guitars manipulated in the studio to be almost indistinguishable, creating futuristic and melodic buzzes and pulsing waves.Īlthough they have ventured into potentially polarising territory, one thing remains true. And dynamics remain the most engaging aspect of the band’s music. The arrangement flirts with oppression but stays dynamic enough to be interesting. On tracks like ‘Connection’, Joe Lester’s throbbing synths and swells of keyboards drown out guitarist and singer Brian Aubert’s chords. The songs speak to a desire for broad, propulsive layers of texture, drawing on Chris Guanlao monstrous drumming as a secret weapon instead of their trademark guitar. This desire to morph their songwriting, and explore and introduce fresh musical ideas, is most evident on Better Nature. Working again with Jacknife Lee, who produced Neck, and Grammy-award winning mix engineer Alan Moulder, Silversun Pickups’s fourth album shimmers with their most studio-produced sheen. But across the three ensuing records – 2009’s fervent and scintillating Swoon, 2012’s expansive and anthemic Neck of the Woods and their new experimental rock offering Better Nature – the LA quartet has continued to spread their sonic wings. It’s been almost 10 years since Silversun Pickups appeared with debut record Carnavas, drawing quick comparisons to buzzsaw-guitar ’90s bands like Smashing Pumpkins.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |