Silversun Pickups, the Los Angeles-based indie/alternative/shoegaze band best known for their surprise 2007 hit, "Lazy Eye," are currently touring North America and Europe to promote their sophomore album, Swoon.
Luckily for me, I was able to catch them on Oct. 23 at their stop at Rochester's Main Street Armory. For those unfamiliar, Silversun's sound, often compared to that of the Smashing Pumpkins, has a really dreamy vibe while still maintaining driving melodies and guitar.
Opening for Silversun Pickups were An Horse, an indie-pop duo from Brisbane, Australia, and Kentucky-based hardcore punk band Cage the Elephant. An Horse played a really fun set, mostly from their debut album, Rearrange Beds, while Cage the Elephant was a highly energetic act.
As soon as Silversun went on, the crowd instantly erupted as the band, fronted by lead vocalist/guitarist Brian Aubert and bassist Nikki Monninger, burst out with the quietly intense "Growing Old Is Getting Old" from Swoon, followed by the more boisterous "Well Thought Out Twinkles," from their 2006 debut album, Carnavas.
Silversun's set was based primarily around Swoon, with eight of the album's 10 songs taking up about half of the evening's setlist, although they did still play about half of Carnavas, as well as two songs from their 2005 debut EP, Pikul. Highlights included "Little Lover's So Polite," "It's Nice To Know You Work Alone" and "Future Foe Scenarios," all played consecutively.
Unfortunately, the show did have to come to an end at some point, and the band concluded their main set with "Panic Switch," the lead single from Swoon, and "Lazy Eye," both of which were excellent. The show's encore, fittingly enough, featured one song from each of their three releases. I especially enjoyed "Creation Lake" from Pikul, which featured lead vocals from Monninger, who, in addition to being a remarkably good bassist, has a very pretty voice.
When the show finally ended, Aubert closed "Common Reactor" with some really cool extended ambient guitar work, which made me think that the band was probably as sorry as I was to see such an unbelievable show come to an end. And I have to say, I found that very comforting.