Now that they've released their third album to critical praise and an ever-increasing fanbase, maybe everyone can finally stop comparing Silversun Pickups to the Smashing Pumpkins. The comparison always seemed lazy anyway. Influences from iconic 90's rock aside, the Pickups easily stand on their own merits. Neck of the Woods is their latest release, and it follows their breakthrough release Swoon, which was an excellent piece of tense, fiery guitar rock. Swoon made it onto many Best-Albums-of-2009 lists, so is Neck of the Woods a worthy successor?
The answer is yes, but it's immediately apparent that Neck of the Woods is a different album than the Pickups' previous efforts. Their albums are always moody, but this one is darker and dreamier. Opening with a subdued atmospheric piece like "Skin Graph" is a good move, but making it six minutes long is risky. The Pickups are confident in their abilities though, and it pays off. If you let it, this album will pull you right in by the end of that first track.
The guitars are a bit more restrained this time out, especially in the first half of the album. You get the sense at times that all the keyboards and dreamy singing would be a formless mass without the strength of the rhythm section (powerhouse drummer Christopher Guanlao and bassist Nikki Monninger) keeping things moving forward. The atmosphere piles up, increasing until the burst of the heavier "Mean Spirits" halfway through the album. Singer/Guitarist Brian Aubert is in fine form on this release; the vocals never lose their passion in the dreaminess, and the guitars, when present, display the direct rock style plied with a bit of prog technique that the Pickups are becoming known for.
Rather than the stadium-rock bombast of the Smashing Pumpkins, Neck of the Woods finds Silversun Pickups making a home for themselves somewhere out between the sexy post-grunge of Placebo and the swirling nocturnal weirdness of The Cure. In the end though, this is an album that you can't really picture being made by anyone other than Silversun Pickups.
-Review by TZARATHUSTRA
