my car and my guitar

There is nothing better than bumping music in your car while you’re flying down the freeway. It is one of the best ways to listen to music; you’re jacked up on adrenaline from the sound and the speed- you feel invincible and one with the moment. Last Wednesday, a few friends and I went to go see Star Trek for the second time. The first time at the Arclight in Sherman Oaks, and the second…IMAX! There is definitely no shortage of nice theaters in LA, I’ve gotten spoiled rotten on theaters. So much so that it didn’t even cross my mind that the movie was playing at the Fox in my own little Westwood, the site of countless premiers. Hard life...

I don’t drive, but Miller does. He LOVES his car. He’s had it for 5 years and you can tell it’s his baby. A cobalt blue ’98 Mustang with flame seat covers, and dice caps for the door locks. Could you guess he’s in a band? Plays guitar like a fiend, saxophone, oh and the flute. He’s a musical madman. I still remember walking down the halls of our freshman dorm and hearing him blast Incubus, and then later on harmonizing with him to Imogen Heap in the study lounge. Always wearing flair of some kind- bandanas around the wrists, guitar picks caught at shows hanging around his neck, and he definitely owns a couple spiked bracelets (definitely borrowed those in moments of weakness/experimentation). Now, I always turn to him for musical advice, and last Wednesday he surprised me yet again with another musical jack-in-the-box.

We trudged back to the car totally stoked but totally exhausted from the movie, but once Miller pressed play on his stereo, I woke up. Silversun Pickups’ new album Swoon flooded the car with chaos. God knows how many strings died to make this album; layers upon layers of distorted guitar tracks, winding bass lines, and crazed violins bombarded my ears with sound.

LOUD NOISES.

Loud, beautiful noises. I had never heard of Silversun Pickups before so I was of course, stoked to explore something new. Miller picked a great song to introduce them too, the first single off the album, “Panic Switch”. As we drove down the 405, with the lousy suspension in his car letting us feel every unpaved bump along the way, the music blasted, and I was surrounded by overwhelming, unadulterated rock sound.

The band’s style is extremely similar to Smashing Pumpkins, bringing elements of a heavy rock sound to a contemporary indie rock audience. The tracks are thick with music, so much so that sometimes you can’t tell which instrument is which. But somehow they achieve a balance with the understated, semi-feminine vocals that leads to a sort of mysterious haunting feeling at times. For instance, “Growing Old Is Getting Old” has a kind of creepy, gothic factor that I think of on albums like A Perfect Circle’s Mer de Noms or Thirteenth Step and Dredg’s El Cielo. Whatever it is, I like it.

The album in its entirety is so epically drenched in musical sweat that I would urge anyone out there to give it a go. It is brooding, smart, experimental, and energizing. After borrowing the cd from Miller, who yes still purchases actual cd’s (thank god someone still enjoys the last remainders of album art), I laid out at the pool and listened to the entire thing while tanning and relaxing in the sun.

Even in the most laid back setting, this cd works. The track “Draining” is particularly soothing, and brings you back down to earth after the preceding track “Panic Switch” gives you a bit of a sugar rush. The ethereal vocals and floating violins of “Draining” allow you to melt into your pool chair and soak up sun. The album is inspiring in its versatility; you could play it at the beach, in the rain, in a car, or at the gym; when you’re sad, when you’re mad, when you’re happy, or when it’s time to take a nap(py)?

Thank you Miller, for an solid listening experience.

"I hear my voice, and I'm like, 'Oy, who's that guy? He sounds like a chick.'" -- Silversun Pickups Frontman Brian Aubert (In an interview with Seattlest.com)

P.S. The tracks "Panic Switch" and "It's Nice to Know You Work Alone" can be downloaded for Guitar Hero: World Tour if you're into that kinda thang.

If you like Silversun Pickups, go pick up: Smashing Pumpkins: anything…, Coheed and Cambria: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 and Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness, Placebo: Without You I’m Nothing, Dredg: El Cielo, Autolux: Future Perfect, A Perfect Circle: Mer de Noms