Silversun Pickups

It's a confusing musical climate to process the Silversun Pickups within. Were it the mid- to late '90s, it'd be simple to write the band off as a mediocre grunge coattail rider with Corgan, not Cobain, as the coat of choice. But it's 2009 and SP definitely did grow up listening to SP (think it's intentional?), and utterly hollow, brain-rotting tripe dominates the mainstream airwaves to a nauseating degree. In a climate where the golden standard of rock is set by nostalgia or necrophilia (Kroeger, quit milking the dead cow of that chord regression!) the honest homage of Silversun Pickups is like snorting rose petals in a sewer. Serviceably rockin', catchy and never unpleasant or too obviously trite, songs like "Panic Switch" or "No Secrets This Year" actually feel kind of exciting, until the songs and album drag on and you realize you've been duped. Swoon has nothing new to offer whatsoever and though it's miles beyond the industry's current perverting of casual listening habits, that's not enough incentive to get behind a band. At least it makes Zeitgeist far easier to appreciate.