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Avg: 4.0 (29 ratings)
- Date Released: July 26, 2006
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Label: MapleMusic Recordings
Pumpkins-lovin’ LA rockers get riffy.
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We Say...
A particularly cynical friend once suggested that our cultural addiction to nostalgia had grown so acute that we’ve begun recycling eras before they’ve even ended (tomorrow’s trends today, indeed). That back-to-the-future dynamic goes along way in helping to appreciate the debut full-length from LA’s Silversun Pickups (the quartet’s name is a tribute to their native Silver Lake, the West Coast Williamsburg, and the heavily-trafficked liquor store located at the intersection of Sunset and Silver Lake Boulevards).
Better still would be to spend an uninterrupted day listening to the best bits from Smashing Pumpkins’ 1991 classic Gish to prep for the molten treasures found lurking throughout Carnavas. SSPU’s Brian Aubert stars in the Billy Corgan role while bassist Nikki Monninger does a mean D’Arcy — their tandem hi/lo vocals on riff-happy tracks like “Melatonin” and the semi-hit “Lazy Eye” are capable of transporting you back to the halcyon days of grunge, conjuring the requisite post-punk irony, reflexive anti-star moves and brain-exploding licks.
Like Corgan before him, Aubert’s lyrics don’t stand up particularly well to scrutiny — his gifts are in the arrangements, where clouds of carefully-sculpted sound recall the disorienting, looped-up feedback of My Bloody Valentine. Carnavas is an admirable inaugural effort from a band still finding its own unique voice — although if SSPU’s next record includes the word “Silverfuck” somewhere in the title, the jig will truly be up. -
They Say...
Carnavas, the debut full-length from L.A.'s Silversun Pickups, is the sort of record that brings something new to discover with each listen. Thus, listen one is as enjoyable as listen five or ten, but probably for entirely different reasons, since unique bits continuously appear from the band's dream haze of accessibly textured indie rock. From the grainy opening of "Melatonin" that blends into strikingly harmonized male/female vocals, the quartet immediately showcases their innate sense of melody amid textured atmospherics and layers of distortion and fuzz, which all come across as both bittersweet and enchanting. Silversun Pickups take the shimmering dream pop of My Bloody Valentine and filter it through '90s grunge instincts like that of the Smashing Pumpkins -- and it all combines to produce an album that, well, is really freaking good. Vocals are both haunting and sweet, as lead singer Brian Aubert somehow manages to sound like a cross between the Goo Goo Dolls' Robby Takac and the Get Up Kids' Matt Pryor -- in a good way. And for every moment of ominous intensity, the band further manipulates their ethereal antics into moments of pure shimmering redemption. "Future Foe Scenarios" is urgent in a completely controlled way that makes the vocals come off even fiercer over the song's driving distortion, while exhilarating and spacious cuts like "Lazy Eye" and "Common Reactor" materialize out of clouds of hazy guitars and pensive keyboard with dynamic force that never loses its direction. Though an extremely rewarding listen, proceed with caution: once put into a stereo, Carnavas may become stuck inside for quite a while.
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| 01. |  |
Melatonin |
4:04 |
|
| 02. | |
Well Thought Out Twinkles |
4:02 |
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| 03. | |
Checkered Floor |
4:51 |
|
| 04. | |
Little Lover's So Polite |
4:58 |
|
| 05. | |
Future Foe Scenarios |
5:20 |
|
| 06. | |
Waste It On |
4:13 |
|
| 07. | |
Lazy Eye |
5:54 |
|
| 08. | |
Rusted Wheel |
6:00 |
|
| 09. | |
Dream At Tempo 119 |
4:52 |
|
| 10. | |
Three Seed |
5:40 |
|
| 11. | |
Common Reactor |
6:01 |
|
11 Total Tracks, 55:55 Total Length
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Credits
- Stephen Marcussen - Mastering // Billy Mims - Studio Assistant // Joe Lester - Group Member // Dave Cooley - Producer // Steven Rhodes - Engineer // Tony Hoffer - Mixing // Megan West - Management // Andrew Alekel - Studio Assistant // Darren Waterston - Sleeve Art // Sara Cumings - Layout Design // Tom Biller - Engineer // Brian Aubert - Group Member // Nikki Monninger - Group Member // Christopher Guanlao - Group Member // Jeff Castelaz - A&R
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