Reviews>>Silversun Pickups - Neck of the Woods (Dangerbird)

After the mass success of their sophomore album Swoon in 2009, which reached number 7 on the Billboard 200 chart, you wouldn’t be surprised if Silversun Pickups decided to stick with what they already had on their new release, Neck of the Woods. However, that couldn’t be more opposite of this album’s intention. Enlisting the help of U2 and R.E.M. producer Jacknife Lee, Silversun Pickups go for a louder and bolder sound on their third LP, which sees them dropping the distortion and fuzz-Pumpkin riffs, progressing onto a darker and brooding atmosphere, which frontman Brian Aubert previously described as sounding “like a horror movie.”

Lead off single “Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)” may carry the name of a teenage horror movie urban legend, but its melodic synths and cinematic dream pop gives it that scary and unsettling feel, whilst the industrial “Make Believe” shows a different side to their sound. “Here We Are (Chancer)” carries Aubert’s mysterious, ghostly vocals over a mellow drum-machine beat. “Simmer“ is the album’s seven minute prog epic, “The Pit” has 80s synth-pop in the style of Depeche Mode and haunting basslines from Nikki Monninger, “Gun Shy Sunshine” generates jangly riffs and reverb, whilst “Busy Bees” is Ok Computer territory Radiohead. The gothic “Mean Spirits” is their most Pumpkin-esque track on the album, an amalgam of arena-heavy wall of sound guitars and powerful drumming courtesy of Christopher Guanlao. Final track “Out of Breath” is pretty much usual Pickups territory with its driving atmospheric guitars and robotic drum work.

If Silversun Pickups have long been compared to 90s alt-rock legends My Bloody Valentine and Smashing Pumpkins, then Neck of the Woods shows that they have moved into a new direction, following M83 into incorporating electronica into their sound. It is a beautiful flow of trancelike electronica, that shows the quartet are unafraid of trying something new with their sound and are able to tackle a variety of styles successfully.

8/10

Incoming>>The Gaslight Anthem - "45"

The Gaslight Anthem return with “45″, the first insight into their forthcoming fourth album, Handwritten, which is due out on July 24 via Mercury Records. The track, which got its first play worldwide on Zane Lowe’s Radio One show at 19.30, sees a return to the energetic punk Americana of their second album, The ’59 Sound. 

Handwritten was produced in Nashville, Tennessee with Brendan O’Brien, whose previous credits include Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Aerosmith, Neil Young and Red Hot Chili Peppers. You can definitely get a feel of stadium rock-style anthems that will no doubt dominate Handwritten, through “45″.

Reviews>>Jack White - Blunderbuss (Third Man/XL)

In a span of just fifteen years, Jack White has had the career to fill a lifetime. From festival headlining, Grammy Award winning, multi-platinum sellers The White Stripes, to successful super group The Raconteurs, to his recent endeavours on drums with The Dead Weather, White was inevitably due to record a solo album on his next career step. That debut solo album, Blunderbuss, sees him crossover all aspects of his career so far, while still maintaining something fresh at the table.

This ruthless neo noir takes a sinister ride through tales of deception, femme fatales, guilt and lust. The title track sounds like White Blood Cells-era White, while the song’s piano and violin melody add in a new dimension to his recognisable bluesy rock grooves and progressive riffs. “Weep Themselves to Sleep,” pays homage musically to previous efforts in The Raconteurs. “I’m Shakin’” is a doo wop, rockabilly cover of Little Willie John, whilst the vaudevillian “Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy,” is a bit of a leftfield surprise, driven by jangly and happy piano melodies, which sounds like the final piece of the “My Doorbell“ and “The Denial Twist” trilogy. Lead off single, “Love Interruption”, is a duet with Ruby Amanfu about the violent things they both desire from love. Album closer, “Take Me With You When You Go”, who’s additive fuzz riffs will have air guitars at the ready, is probably the record’s standout track, as White ponders whether displaying his own inner desires may be harming someone else.

Certainly a trip down White’s career memory lane, but still an adventurous and unconventional release from the man who’s already done it all, so early in his career. The White Stripes may be sadly long gone, but with an impressive debut as this, that may well be a good thing.

8/10

Features>>Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted: 20 Years Later

Friday marks the twentieth anniversary of Pavement’s debut album, Slanted & Enchanted. Considered one of the finest indie albums of all time, it’s not hard to see its influence in modern indie bands’ sound; everyone from Modest Mouse to Wavves, can claim an influence from the band’s lo-fi fuzz recordings. Their inspirational debut helped to shape 90s alternative America and the lo-fi slacker generation, paving the way for the likes of Beck, Weezer, Guided by Voices and Built to Spill later on in the decade. Even British bands such as Blur and Radiohead were indebted to Pavement in their early careers.

Recorded by a bunch of sarcastic stoners; security guard and vocalist/guitarist Stephen Malkmus (known under the pseudonym S.M) and guitarist Spiral Stairs (Scott Kannberg), with help from hippy drummer Gary Young, who owned the studio they recorded in. It was part recorded in Young’s studio in Stockton, California and part in Brooklyn, New York. It was a self-produced masterpiece. Fifteen noisy, yet melodic songs, which sounded sloppy and unfinished, yet still sounding genius and like a work of art. The catchy fuzz riffs and obtuse lyrics, which may sound abrasive at first, make for repeated listens and get suck in your head, even if you don’t have a clue what Malkmus is saying. Pavement give off that “Ramones” effect of wondering if a band couldn’t try any less or be anymore sloppy, yet still make kickass anthems.

Officially released on April 20, 1992 on Matador Records, it had been surfacing around the underground on cassette tapes a year previously. Though Pavement never received the mass attention that many of their 90s alt rock contemporaries did, they still received mass critical praise. Slanted & Enchanted received perfect tens, that Nadia Comaneci would be proud of, from the NME, Spin and Pitchfork. Rolling Stone listed it at 134th on their 500 Greatest Albums of all Time list. Blender called it the “greatest indie album of all time”. However, not everyone was a big fan. The Fall’s Mark E. Smith said Pavement were a “rip off” of his band, and they “didn’t have an original idea in their heads.” Ouch. The other members of The Fall were far more complimentary, however.

Pavement would later become a full band, hiring bassist Mark Ibold, percussionist Bob Nastanovich and replacing Young with Steve West on drums, and go onto record other masterpieces, such as Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain and Wowee Zowee. Unlike the vast majority of their colleagues, Pavement never signed to a major label and stayed independent throughout their career.

Considering Pavement were never more than a cult underground band, it’s amazing, how 20 years later, they now sound like the radio regulars they never were. It’s a testament to their sound and their influence. Slanted & Enchanted was one of the earliest bursts of creativity from within the American 90s underground, yet as a tribute to its standing, is still sounding as fresh and original 20 years later.

Incoming>>Yuck - Chew

London-based 90s revivalists Yuck, return with a new song entitled “Chew”. Sounding as ever, as if it were produced by Alan Moulder, who has worked with the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Smashing Pumpkins,Nine Inch Nails and the Jesus and Mary Chain, Yuck continue to pay homage to their heroes in a big way.

The guitar sounds, particularly the opening riff, are certainly reminiscent of previous Moulder-work, sounding somewhat similar to Smashing Pumpkins’ “Plume,” whilst the floaty-shoegaze atmosphere is complementary to the likes of MBV and Ride.

Incoming>>Silversun Pickups - Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)

Los Angeles' Alternative rockers, Silversun Pickups, return with "Bloody Mary", the first song to be released from their third album, Neck of the Woods. It continues their usual 90s-style floaty, dream pop sounds, but also sees the inclusion of synths and reverb.

Neck of the Woods will be released May, 8 on Dangerbird Records.

Incoming>>Titus Andronicus - Upon Viewing Oregon's Landscape with the Flood of Detritus

Patrick Stickles from New Jersey band, Titus Andronicus, debuted a new song on a Jersey City radio station last night.

Going by the name, "Upon Viewing Oregon's Landscape With The Flood of Detritus", it is a first glimpse into new material prior to the release of the band's third album, due around November.

The rockabilly number continues from where they left off on last album, The Monitor, a drunken gibberish of words, mixed with two repetitive fist-pump chants, "built to last" and "thrown away", and a melodic lo-fi guitar sound, that sounds like it was recorded back in an old-timey saloon.

You can check it out here at 2:37:00 http://www.wfmu.org/flashplayer.php?version=2&show=44104&archive=76138.