Silversun Pickups: Album Review

[Photo Credit: Tony Steinberg]

If last year's Pikul EP was an indication, then it will not be long before Silversun Pickups are huge. On Carnavas, the band operates off of the same canvas that bore Grandaddy and Earlimart, but the band is able to further that sound by looking beyond the desert of California. The band's strongest material draws on the passion and aesthetics of shoegaze, adding a powerful extra layer to a familiar sound. Album opener "Melatonin" brings male and female vocals together in a way that Rainer Maria used to do in the late '90s, the perfect song to listen to on your drive down the shore. "Future Foe Scenarios" is one of those tracks that gently seeps out of your stereo, but by the two minute mark, it's an explosion of guitars and nervous screaming -- the sort of rocker to get your jaded ass moving at a show. "Lazy Eye," which was previewed on a KEXP in-studio a couple of months ago, is cut from the same cloth as "Kissing Families." And there are tracks like "Checkered Floor," "Waste It On" and "Well Thought Twinkles," which rank as some of the year's best.

Carnavas will be available on July 25th through Dangerbird Records.

Pre-order: Carnavas
MySpace: Silversun Pickups
Audio: "Well Thought Out Twinkles"