Silversun Pickups - "Carnavas" Era (MTV favorites)

[oscillations.]

There's no thread for this band, but considering their upward mobility into the mainstream venue, I think it's time.

This band has been described as a combination of early Smashing Pumpkins, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth and Pavement. There's a definitely a 90's revivalist streak in them. They have two releases to their name: 2005's Pikul EP and last year's Carnavas, which was met with widespread acclaim upon release last summer. Since then, the band has transcended the blogosphere and been picked up by the Discover & Download initiative, and has become one of the network's most played videos. That, in conjuction with a steady incline on the modern rock charts has led to band enjoying a continuous sales increase every week on the Top 200 (an argument for continued impact of MTV's influence, despite the odds.)

Anyway, they have arrived. And they are in it to win it.

[oscillations.]

The video for "Lazy Eye" (Top 20 Alternative contender & mainstay on MTV)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWz9kGnAPfk

[tortuga]

I'm still surprised how good they're doing. I wonder if they'll release "Well Thought Out Twinkles" next. Apparently, that was the first single.

[oscillations.]

yup
They played the video for it on Subterranean last summer, but they might aim for wider exposure in the means of a "re-release":
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8huuw3eMuWw


Kissing Families, from PIKUL:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YiUXl0TwR8

[tortuga]

That video for "Kissing Families" was entertaining. I didn't even know they made one for that song.

[joker]

This thread was long overdue. But then, their album seemed to take awhile to catch on, as well. Fortunately, it's still gaining momentum... it's a winner.

The album is at a new peak this week, #148.

"Lazy Eye" is #22 on the Hot 100's Bubbling Under.

[oscillations.]

What they need is a few TV promo spots. I feel like they are an act that will continue to flourish throughout the year.

LOL, what if the Pumpkins selected them as an opening act?

[joker]

Yeah, they were on Letterman once, I think that's it, and that was a little while ago now. Maybe a featured song in Grey's Anatomy, lol.

[oscillations.]

Seriously. They seem to do more for mass exposure to upcoming artists than any other promotional form...be it traditional music tv, blogs, SNL spots, etc. I guess it's like the 90210 of the 2000's?
An SNL performance, a new tour, and a Grey's Anatomy prompt could do them wonders.

[jaxxalude]

I don't think 90210 made any wonders for up and coming acts back in the day (except maybe for Jeremy Jordan! ). But I could be wrong...

PS: Damn, I am wrong after all! How could I have forgotten this classic TV moment?!

[oscillations.]

I DON'T REMEMBER. I WAS LIKE EIGHT YEARS OLD.
All I know is that a lot of bands used to aspire to get spots on that show. Didn't the Cardigans do it once?

[jaxxalude]

I remember The Corrs and Goo Goo Dolls doing it by 1996 or whatever. But by then 90210 was pretty much irrelevant anyway.

[joker]

Oh yeah, I remember Goo Goo Dolls and Flaming Lips were on that show. I must have stopped watching by the time the Cardigans were on, 'cause I'm pretty sure I'd remember that.

But, I question 90210's influence if the show couldn't make Brian Austin Green a music superstar! ;)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQU7HRJWS1s

[oscillations.]

Jason Priestly came into my former workplace one weekend last year. I'm telling you, every single female on the premises inked herself. I didn't, though. Celebrities don't excite me that much (except for MY OWN bedroom heroes, of course). Ed was shot in my town, too. That guy was an asshole. Oh, and Queen Latifah shot her movie here last summer.

[joker]

Must be them sideburns.

My favorite Priestly appearance was Roy Orbison's "I Drove All Night" video. Not for anything Jason did, but because Roy's the man, and because Jennifer Connelly was in it, and she was a favorite of mine back then! Anyway, I always liked that song a lot. Too bad Celine Dion nearly ruined it forever.

[microcuts]

They're going to be on Leno on Monday, Feb. 19

and also doing a mini-concert for Carson Daly which will air across 4 nights later this month. more info on their myspace.

This is undoubtedly my new favorite (or favorite new) band right now. Maybe I like The Knife a little more because of their originality... but Carnavas is easily my cd of 2006.

[oscillations.]

The Knife are my religion.

[oscillations.]

"Lazy Eye" near the Top 20!

Just performed on Leno!

[juhn]

Why do people like "Lazy Eye" so much? Have they heard of "Rusted Wheel", "Common Reactor" and "Three Seed"? Those are EXCELLENT.

(Also, "Rusted Wheel" was featured on a few teen dramas. But hey, so was "Lazy Eye"!)

[juhn]

cherrycrush said:

The Knife are my religion.

Okayyyy... I only like "Heartbeats". The rest of their songs don't stand out.

[oscillations.]

1. "Lazy Eye" is the current single. That means it's going to attract the most attraction at the moment.
2. "Heartbeats" isn't even that great. The SILENT SHOUT LP is among the finest of any Swedish export(s) of the past 50 years.

Now, I am going to school.

[tortuga]

juhn said:

Why do people like "Lazy Eye" so much? Have they heard of "Rusted Wheel", "Common Reactor" and "Three Seed"? Those are EXCELLENT.

(Also, "Rusted Wheel" was featured on a few teen dramas. But hey, so was "Lazy Eye"!)

Those are all excellent I agree, but like oscillations said, its the current single. Its also a song that is immediate when you first hear it while "Rusted Wheel" and "Three Seed" take a couple of listens to get into them.

I think after "Well Thought Out Twinkles", they should go for "Future Foe Scenarios" as a possible third single.

[microcuts]

Wow that Leno performance sure was great last night. You don't get to see that kind of raw frantic energy on talk shows much.

[joker]

^ Yeah, especially on Leno. I liked the performance too.

[oscillations.]

up to #92 on amazon

[oscillations.]

5 DNGB 167 148 151 SILVERSUN PICKUPS CARNAVAS 6,646 8 6,155 66,925
:)

[joker]

"Lazy Eye" is up to #19 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart, and #14 on the Hot 100 Bubbling Under.

[microcuts]

Album now #118 on the Billboard 200

Oh and their "4-night residency" at the Carson Daly show (they were all actually recorded the same day) has been taking place this week. I think they did Lazy Eye Tuesday night, and Little Lover's So Polite was aired last night. I'm really hoping for Three Seed tonight but that's probably quite unlikely.

[joker]

www.denverpost.com/ci_5335260

Pickups a serendipitous success
Trial and error worked for Silversun Pickups
By Ricardo Baca
Denver Post Pop Music Critic

Rock 'n' roll is a land of misperceptions. Some lyrics are poetry while others are nonsensical. Some bands are built on love and ego, others on hate and self-loathing.

Some bands come together and everything is laid out for them like a floor plan. He's the best guitar player and the natural songwriter of the group, she's steady on the bass and has the best voice, and their buddy is comfortable only when he's behind a drum kit.

But most bands don't have it that easy. Most groups, through much rehearsal and trial and error, find their fated roles the hard way.

"Everything that we've done has grown slowly and organically," Nikki Monninger said recently of her band, Silversun Pickups, "and it seems to have worked out."

The Silversun Pickups are among the buzziest bands to come out of eastern Los Angeles since Rilo Kiley. The Pickups, hot off recent late-night performances on Leno, Letterman and Daly, play the Fillmore Auditorium on Tuesday, opening for Snow Patrol.

They specialize in moody rock music that keys in on fuzzed-out melodies, spacey atmospherics and psychedelic unisex vocals that could go either way - man or woman - depending on the song.

When all of these stylistic choices come together, the resulting music is as addictive as it is original. Everything sounds like it's in its right place - Monninger's bass complementing Christopher Guanlao's driving drums as Joe Lester's spacey keys act as the otherworldly yin to the yang of Brian Aubert's psych- leaning guitars and voice.

But the way the band tells it, the members had little idea Aubert would be their lead singer until it came time to add vocals to their songs.

"Brian became the singer by default because nobody else would step up to the mic," said Monninger, who co- founded the Pickups with Aubert in 2000. "Everyone was tentative to try and sing. But he would just sing melodies because we didn't have words. I always knew he had a good voice, but he was just a little shy about singing."

It's surprising for anyone familiar with the Pickups and their intoxicating debut, "Carnavas," an album that topped many critics' best-of-2006 lists. Aubert's vocals are central to the band's triumphant music, its impossible-to-classify indie rock, and without his musings as an anchor, the music could fall flat.

Each song is a battle between loud and soft, melody and psychedelic noise, mild organization and chaos, and Aubert is the general leading the charge. It's Aubert's voice that glues together the jangle and fuzz and crackle and angularity of the Pickups' sound.

Listen to "Kissing Families" and it's difficult to nail down what it is that makes these L.A. kids different from the pack - although it's obvious they are very different. The song employs strings along with more traditional rock instrumentation, and Aubert is a master of rhythm in his vocals. He uses rhythmic patterns as much as Guanlao does on drums - similar to Morrissey and his penchant for unique alliteration and delivery.

It's exhilarating, especially as FM radio grows blander. As some indie rock trickles into the mainstream - the Pickups' single "Lazy Eye" recently was picked up by terrestrial radio, MTV and licensing outlets galore - the variety makes everything more exciting.

But just as the Pickups didn't know Aubert would be their singer, they had no idea it would be "Lazy Eye" that eventually would lead them to a larger audience, especially because the album first hit with college radio DJs, who play whatever songs they choose as opposed to a label-sanctioned single.

"We were surprised it became a single because it's just a longer song," Monninger said. "I love playing that song, but we just thought of that as being a great album song. ... We thought the first single would be 'Little Lovers' or 'Well Thought Out Twinkles."'

One of the curiosities of "Lazy Eye" and "Kissing Families" hitting as they have is that the two songs are among the band's oldest. They have been working those songs for more than five years - something that has its upsides.

"It's nice to be able to work on a song for years and then finally have it the way it should organically be," Monninger said, "as opposed to recording it really quickly right after you've written it."

And that is a luxury, one that Monninger and her bandmates will never have again.

"We realize it won't be like that again, and we're excited for the new challenge."

[oscillations.]

BILLBOARD:
Silversun Pickups' "Carnavas" (Dangerbird) rocketed 118-80 (+37.6%, 10,000) as radio play continues to pick up for the single "Lazy Eye."

:o