Widow's Weeds - Silversun Pickups: Review
Are a long running indie project out of Los Angeles that dropped an EP and two critically acclaimed indie rock albums in the second half of the 2000's. And even though most critics haven't reported a dip in quality the bands two albums released in the 2010's so far haven't received near the volume of attention as their heyday in the 2000's and Widows Weeds is an attempt as a return to critical and commercial success after four years of studio album silence.
Review By Lavender:
Silversun Pickups are underrated, and I have been a proponent of that for a long time now. As far as indie bands of the 2000's go they are very solidly among the second tier, yet bands that have released far worse material over this decade continue to garner attention that eludes SP even though I would argue they've never released a bad album. Though their most recent release Better Nature isn't quite the blistering indie jams that the bands tour-de-force 2009 album Swoon is, they still have executed a consistency rarely found in a genre that likes to rely on progression. And while Widow's Weeds once again fails to do anything groundbreaking it does deliver a pretty consistent series of solid tracks that see the band playing to their strengths, for the most part.
There were two singles for this record that predicted with surprising accuracy the good but not great and consistently average nature of this album. It Doesn't Matter Why features a bouncy driving guitar riff that leads the way with some violin mixed in. The track builds up to a pretty solid payoff and even though the build isn't quite as worth it as some of the other tracks here it is brighter and faster and makes sense to me as a single. Freakazoid was the second single with some classic rock inspired chanted vocals and an instrumental that hits harder than I would have expected here too. The track is pretty catchy and overall a solid song that's one of the best tracks here.
There are a handful of tracks catchy and sharp enough that could have also served as singles. Straw Man has some very loud guitar jamming and a decently sharp refrain. I enjoy the themes of the straw man in this track and while the vocals on this album are consistently good this track has a little bit of an issue with how they are mixed in. Bag Of Bones is one of the catchiest songs here with a sugary sweet instrumental featuring some blippy keys and a smooth guitar riff, the song beats its title refrain to death but it is just catchy enough to make the track worthwhile. Songbirds may be the best track here and with its huge anthemic chorus that is super catchy and serves as a sharp payoff from a driving verse. The lyrics are solid and the vocal harmonizing is excellent making this one of the most complete songs here.
These aren't the only songs here I came away from positively either. Neon Wound is a decent track that doesn't really need to be the opener. Its one of the more patient tracks here building around a sharp drum kick the progression takes quite a while but is pretty solid, the track could be more exciting and its placement as the intro track seems weird to me. Don't Know Yet is another slow burner with a surprisingly catchy chorus and a poppy refrain that doesn't exactly fit with its blaring rock instrumental but ultimately the song reaches a decent conclusion. Finally the last okay tine comes at the end with We Are Chameleons, a jammy and distorted rock tune that suffers from some so-so vocalizing and a lot of noise, but doesn't really hone it in any unique or interesting way.
The two tracks here I wasn't a fan of are Widow's Weeds and Simpatico. The title track has some decent elements with its sweet and bouncy refrain on the hook and its blistering electronic instrumentation, but when they are paired with each other the entire song gets atrociously poorly mixed and making out any of the details becomes essentially impossible. But on Simpatico they miss completely, the song is painfully slow and both the chorus and bridge feature some terrible ay-ay-aym vocalizing that makes it all the more grating and completely skippable.
Silversun Pickups may have never been an essential indie band but their catalog is more consistent than most people give them credit for and this album is right in line with that. None of these tracks are groundbreaking or the best you will hear of indie music in 2019 but with pretty good consistency the band delivers solid songwriting, compelling vocals and a nice blend of lyrical and topical themes. 6.5/10
Best Track: Bag Of Bones
For more indie check out my review of The National's I Am Easy To Find here.
