Silversun Pickups – Swoon (Warner)

Bizarrely, I first learnt of Swoon via Mark Hoppus, who just so happened to tweet about it in the most positive light a couple of weeks ago. I can’t remember for the life of me how I managed to stumble across Mark Hoppus on Twitter, nor can I remember exactly what the tweet said (and, despite my best efforts, no amount of googling is providing me with what I want to re-discover). Besides, all of this is by the by; all you need to know is an impression was made, I managed to conveniently forget that Hoppus himself comprises one-third of what is possibly one of the world’s least credible bands, and then I set about procuring a copy of the record for myself.

The thing is, while Hoppus clearly can’t get Silversun Pickups off the brain (in fact, he tweeted about the four-piece again yesterday), I can’t decide whether I like their sophomore effort much at all. By all means, I’ve tried to love them. I’ve even rationalised that, theoretically at least, we should be a match made in heaven; I like the Smashing Pumpkins, I also like Sonic Youth and I definitely like My Bloody Valentine, which is fantastically convenient given that the Pickups’ claim to draw inspiration from all of the above. But, as we all know too well, there are many things in life which are totally dissimilar once in practice, and I think this record may be a fine example.

Interestingly, it wasn’t the Silversun Pickups’ subtle nod to Billy Corgan et al which I find embarrassing or offensive. Sure, it’s never far from my mind when I’m listening to Swoon, but there is more than enough proof of the band’s own competency; try ‘Sort Of’ as it drifts three seconds beyond a minute, ‘It’s Nice To Know You Work Alone’ as it approaches the three minute mark, or even the chorus of ‘Panic Switch’. At times, I’m even tempted to suggest that these brief highlights render the record palatable – but then I find myself lost amongst the indistinguishable layers of a track I can’t remember the name of, and don’t want to remember the name of, either.

There is something quite strange about Swoon: I spend much of the album skipping tracks or wanting to pull the plug on it altogether, and yet when I do, I yearn to hear my favourite bars of the standout tracks again. I don’t have a clue what any of this actually means, but I guess it serves me right for taking advice from Blink 182’s bassist. All in all, lesson learnt.