It’s hard to believe that just over two years ago, I was watching Silversun Pickups open up a show in a small café at the University of Illinois student center. Since that time the band has blown up, appearing on Rock Band and Guitar Hero, soundtracking car commercials, and playing with Foo Fighters, Snow Patrol and OK Go. It’s a bit of an understatement to say that they’re doing well for themselves and with their new album, Swoon, I expect the L.A. band will gain legions of more fans.
The first single on Swoon , “Panic Switch,” is a urgent, fuzzed-out guitar freak-out that sounds like it was plucked straight out of Billy Corgan’s back pocket (back in the Siamese Dream days). Not really much of a departure from their debut, but hey, stick with what you’re good at, right? Everything seems to come together on this track, it’s got a sick bass line, androgynous vocals, intense drumming, and a killer guitar solo that makes generous use of distortion pedals. The video is all about the extreme close-ups, pastel color lenses, and super quick edits. It’s pretty simple but it matches the driving beat of the track and sets the mood quite nicely for the rock-out session you’re experiencing.
