Silversun Pickups

Swoon sees Silversun Pickups add to the Mellon Collie of their 2006 debut Carnavas, and, believe it or not, they find even more room for pedal effects, distortion and overdubs. Balking at the idea that moderation is key, they fatten up the fuzz with flickering keyboards and swells of cello, siren squeals and nearly metal-like riffs. Singer Brian Aubert takes it all on, his half-whine, half-shout never getting swallowed by all the noise around him (pretty as it is). Instead, he builds upon it with all the angst and anxiety that made bands like their idols the Pumpkins so good.

The guitar distortion that eats up much of the air on Swoon — the fine, at times genuinely
exciting second album by Silversun Pickups — comes in many forms, including
wounded-bear roars, pissed-off-snake hisses and black-syrup rivers of drone. In one song,
"Panic Switch," singer-guitarist Brian Aubert is a fuzz orchestra unto himself, opening with a
dirty grunting lick, jumping into the chorus with an iron wall of strum and stuffin... More >