I think the slight Shoegaze element really makes it for me otherwise I would lump them in with a ton of generic guitar bands of which don't do a lot for me but Carnavas quickly established itself as one of my favourite albums.

I always felt there was something that set them a little apart from their peers at the moment, and I think you hit it right on the button with that shoegaze element comment Jackhammer... Now I will probably listen more for it next time I play Carnavas or Swoon.

Yes indeed they are!

I really enjoyed Canavas, but I just haven't been compelled to pick up Swoon, I don't really know why, I am just not excited for it.

Pick it up! It's great! Even better than Carnavas if you like temperamental loud/soft dynamics... one of my favorite albums of the year.

Sick band! Carnavas is a good album but Swoon is even better, watch some of their live videos on youtube, really strange IMO, they would a great band to see live for sure.

I'd try to go if I was in NYC.... unfortunately I am not and I won't be anytime in the near future.... which is a bummer because I have a feeling the Pickups would be heck of a great live act!

I've always disliked the term "shoegaze." It really doesn't tell me a thing about a band's musical oeuvre. I first heard shoegaze used to refer to the Cocteau Twins, and subsequently bands like Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and Jesus and Mary Chain were also called shoegazers.

My question is what do those bands have in common with the Cocteau Twins or with each other?

The term shoegaze fell into musical venacular in the UK, and was a negative term to describe a band with a lethargic or lackidasical stage presence. Shoegaze was a derogatory comment about a band's lack of charisma and stage prescence.

Shoegaze was then appropriated by the music industry in the early Nineties and it's meaning was reshaped into music industry A&R tag with an entirely different meaning.

Shoegaze became a hip signifer used by music producers to describe a langorous je ne sais quo quality of apathy that was part of a band's mystique. It had nothing to do with the kind of music the band played. Shoegaze evolved into contrived A&R tool used to sell more units of the artist's latest musical product.

Gazing at your own shoes at performances made your band seem dark and mysterious, instead of lazy and disenaged. That was the revisionist definition of shoegaze, supplied with a smile by the fast talkin' A&R bagmen at Sony and Time Warner.

This proliferation of genre tagging has really gotten out of hand and the total number of subgenres is threatening to exceed the total number of bands. So many genres, yet so little time for an old school music fan like me to figure out the right subgenre to assign Gogol's Bordello to.

I'm still trying to figure out what subgenres like queencore, C-86, obscuro, darkwave and freakbeat are all about.

It's getting harder and harder for me to drop the names of the right bands or bore my friends with a 2 hour monologue on latest music trends, if I'm not up to speed on the psychosocial signifiance of queercore music.

I won't be able to show up at my job or go grocery shopping until I have a clear fix on the exact definition of the screamo subgenre. Were Howling Wolf and Screamin' Jay Hawkins influenced by screamo? Is there such a thing as screamo delta blues?

In my world, a music fan has way too much time on his hands if he's able to recite the names of ten bands that belong to the Shibuya-Kei subgenre of rock and roll, in under a minute.

Every 15 minutes a horrifying new musical subgenre is created by music corporation warlords of this nation. Each year thousands of American are losing their lives to genre overkill. It's time for the American public to rise up, put on their Doctor Marten boots and stomp out this meaningless linguistic virus from hell.

One last question: Have I gone off topic?

Ahhhh, yes... off topic, but a darn good and very true rant, which I agree with wholeheartedly... great post!

fixed ;)

It's the music media that's creating most of these subgenres. Every time i read through reviews in music magazines or websites i come across about 5 new subgenres that are created. I know the reviewer wants to accurately describe a band's sound and differentiate them from other bands but there's no need to create a new genre for every band.

Anyway complaining about the amount of subgenres out there won't help change things so im gonna shut up now.


Back on topic. Silversun Pickups are supporting Placebo for two dates in Dublin :D :D :D i've got my ticket for the first night :D

Was marvelling last night as I was listening to Carnavas, that this was a very tight, comlete sounding album, and it's just their first full length! I expect that many good things are to come!

So I'm re listening to Carnavas for the first time since I got it. Since then Ive learned some important facts about the band, such as the singer is not a girl as I had previously thought. In my defense he does have a pretty feminine voice. But he can scream very well which reminds me of the Pixies. But anyway the album is simply stunning with all its textural sounds but I wouldn't call it shoegaze.

Don't spend a dime on this. You could get it for free on the torrents. #1, drummer isn't that great really, he just puts a symbol really high up, which is kinda lame. #2, they sound too much like R.E.M meets new pop disco craze. Disco is dead people, why does everyone keep listening to it???? / making it.

don't u remember in 1979 when disco was killed in Tiger stadium. Looks like some people don't remember. Boring lead singer + chick on bass to try and up the attractiveness of the band. I say boring.

:rofl:

Wtf?? Lmao :rofl:

#1 their drummer is awesome, he's as solid as a rock and never misses a beat which is what really matters. The reason he has an unusual kit setup is not that he wants to look cool, it's what he feels comfortable with and helps him play to his maximum potential.
#2 They don't really sound like REM and they are certainly not part of any pop disco craze. You come across like you've only heard one of their newer songs and judged them on that. I certainly can't imagine anyone pulling disco moves to the likes of Creation Lake, Kissing Families or All The Go Inbetweens.

Who gives a f**k when disco died anyway. Oh and the reason why Nikki is their bass player is not that she's eye candy (in fact i don't really find her that attractive at all), it's because she knows what to do with a bass guitar.

i always thought it was one of the necessary elements of being a sonic youth / smashing pumpkins clone.

My thoughts exactly, wtf........

Well, I'd rather listen to Silversun Pickups than Smashing Pumpkins.

Actually the more you listen to the Silversun Pickups, the less you hear the superfical Smashing Pumpkins similarities...

Ya know if they can remain consistent, they could, IMO eclipse the Pumpkins output... which admittedly is amazing, but dogged by Billy Corgan's Nazi like control of the music and creativity, as well as the instability of the cast of musicians...

Smashing Pumpkins are sooooooo monotonous.

Well it would be way off topic for me to launch into a defence of the Smashing Pumpkins right now... suffice to say, I disagree with you...

i used to love smashing pumpkins and silversun pickups. now they bore me.

Other than a similar sound both bands also have, a female bass player, an asian guy, and the same initials SP.

No pixies love?

In this thread:

- They do sound like the pumpkins.

- The pumpkins made great music for an entire decade.

- There no logic is "I don't like these guys because they sound like [band]"

the pixies are one of those bands that never grabbed me. not sure why, most of my friends were all over them back in the day. i never minded hearing their stuff i just never felt compelled to listen to them on my own. not really hearing their influence in this band nearly as much as the pumpkins.

i never said i didn't like silversun pickups, but i've only heard like a half dozen songs and the only one that really stood out for me was the one on rockband2 (lazy eye). if i want to listen to something that reminds me of the smashing pumpkins i'll dig out my copy of their catalog (if only the first track on gish didn't skip all over the place GRRRR)

as for the female bass player angle i remember corgan saying it was a conscious decision on his part. for some reason he felt that a woman would play the instrument differently than a man, less testosterone = less aggressive playing = more playing of what you're told instead of what you want?

whether or not it's a similar situation or just coincidence in the silversun pickups i don't know, but if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck.... i'm gonna call it a duck.

new album swoon is amazing, its a bit heavier at times, but great overall tone and sound. makes me think of cold winters. does that sound lame?

be careful, if it quacks like a duck it could be many other things.

I mention the pixies because of the female bassist (no a perfect circle love?) but theres no influence from them here. In fact I'd guess there the opposite.

With Corgan who is one of the more intriguing msucial figures as of late (albeit obnoxious) often gets compared to John Fogarty for being a control freak with skills. He's said of himself he was a Svengali because he took two people who couldn't play their instruments and made them what they are.

In that regard I personally think he's a genius because, like trades men, he taught them his style of playing to better achieve his sound. I spent some miserable months working to be a framer and they have the same methodology.

Female bass players are starting to become a trend and you can probably name more female bass players than drumers, singers, or guitarists who play in an all male band.

I can't speak to the SSP's bassist though to play the sort of dance-based groves on Panic Switch, you can't be a slouch. honestly haven't listened for her, though the drummer is a monster and you can't be in a lop-sided rhytham section for long.

grammy nominees for:

Best New Artist:
Zac Brown Band
Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings

Earth to Grammy's, Carnavas came out in 2006. Also just noticed, MGMT wtf?

I'd rather hear the defense.

I'll give it to you, on the relevant board.

I love this band but they sound a lot like early Smashing Pumpkins

I totally agree...I want to like them but it's just so much like Gish.

We're already talking about it here.

Am I silly for assuming the sophomore album was going to be as good as Siamese Dream? Haha.

:thumb:

I like one of their songs, really. 'Lazy Eye'. And that's only because it's sounds like Mogwai Fear Satan except a tenth as epic. But Mogwai Fear Satan is really, really, really epic so it's still epic.

... Ahn, all of Caranavas is still cool I guess.

Saw them in Peora IL with Cage The Elephant and An Horse....Best show i've been to in my life...so great *sigh*. Has anyone downloaded thier old EP? If you dont have it i recommend it...it makes my heart smile =)

Pikul EP is brilliant. It has a rougher but more mellow sound compared to their albums, and at 35 minutes long and with 7 tracks it's pretty long for an ep. Kissing Families, The Fuzz and All The Go-Inbetweens are essential. They played in Dublin the past 2 nights and i couldn't go due to stupid college exams. Grrrrr indeed :(

I prefer the EP to any of the albums so far, Kissing Families and All The Go-Inbetweens are two superb tracks.