Silversun Pickups : Tenterhooks

Of all the alt rock bands that came out of the mid-2000s alternative scene I didn’t expect Silversun Pickups to be in for the long haul. I dug their 2006 debut Carnavas, a mix of shoegaze haze and gnarled post-punk guitar that went down smooth. And “Lazy Eye” was a pretty fun, catchy tune that seemed to dig more into shoegaze-by-way-of-Smashing Pumpkins than those 80s/early 90s OG bands.

But beyond that record things just seemed to stay firmly in mid-gear. The band seemed to be taking those shoegaze vibes and morphing them into something more modern sounding, but not necessarily in an interesting way. A new album every three years with a similar vibe with slick production but no hooks to grab onto.

The last Silversun Pickups album was 2022s Physical Thrills, a paint-by-numbers collection of ‘file under: alternative’ stock rock songs that wasn’t sure if it wanted to be Catherine Wheel or Imagine Dragons. A little over three years later we now have Tenterhooks. I’ll give Silversun Pickups an “A” for effort. The band still sounds on point musically, and Brian Aubert’s ‘Billy Corgan meets Wheatus’ vocals still deliver youthful vigor, but there’s not much else going on.

“New Wave” opens promisingly enough, having the sound of bands like Whirr and Young Prisms hanging in those big open guitar chords. But the vocals add an air of pomp and circumstance that does nothing to keep that shoegaze mood going. We are treated with a mid guitar groove that doesn’t seem to go anywhere. “The Wreckage” starts out in a frenetic groove and rhythm that perks the ears, but per usual the vocals take away from the urgency and we end up with something similar to Navarro-era RHCP. “Wakey Wakey” is fine, but at 2 minutes is the shortest song and ends much too soon.

“Witness Mark”, “Long Gone”, and “Running Out Of Sounds” all sit in balladry and self-importance, while “Interrobang” delivers a nice surprise close to the end with a bass-heavy jam.

If you’ve been following Silversun Pickups since the pre-Obama, post-9/11 days of Pitchfork dominance and have liked them consistently, you’ll like Tenterhooks. If you’re dropping in to see if things have changed and evolved a bit, just stick to Carnavas. Or better yet, Siamese Dream.