Silversun Pickups — Swoon

Silversun Pickups still sound a hell of a lot like the Smashing Pumpkins, especially on opening track "There's No Secrets This Year." Did they even have to rip off the guitar tone?

But the Los Angeles-based group are far more than a tribute act, and Swoon proves they're a band with My Bloody Valentine-sized ambitions. Ambition is a plentiful commodity in music, however, and it's the execution that makes or breaks bands.

Swoon holds your attention long enough that you probably wouldn't turn the dial if one of its tracks were to come on the radio (which lead single "Panic Switch" often does). But there's little new on offer outside the world of mainstream modern rock, as the band charts the same shoegaze-meets-alternative rock waters that Catherine Wheel occupied some 15 years ago.

Like all too many records these days, over-production and overzealous mastering have rendered Swoon stale, and any enjoyment garnered from listening feels fleeting. While it ups the ante from the band's debut, Silversun Pickups seem destined to live in the shadow of their own influences.

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