Silversun Pickups / Fear of Music

With ages ranging from 16 to 20, Manchester’s Fear of Music surprisingly took the stage at the Birmingham Barfly with as much confidence, and I would soon discover competence, as a band of formidable indie-rock veterans. The music itself was mature and well developed with contrast and variety between fast moving grungy sounds and more reflective piano lead pieces. Front man Joe Rose threw intelligent lyrics out with a charged and emotional voice, giving the songs purpose and meaning.

Mike Ward, looking like a nineties drug child with his indoor sunglasses stunt and a psychedelic spotty hoodie, played very well and his energy knew no bounds. The Fear of Music set the scene for Silversun Pickups musically but a bit more crowd interaction could have helped perfect what was a good set. Instead Joe Rose occasionally, politely, even sheepishly thanked the crowd for being “so kind” and “nice”. Polite, yes, but not very rock ‘n’ roll.


'Well Thought Out Twinkles’ assertive riff hit the audience hard after the silence between bands and Silversun Pickups instantly produced a stage presence vastly disproportionate to the size of the Barfly’s meagre stage set up. A style not unlike that of the Smashing Pumpkins superficially appealed but as the song progressed Silversun Pickups came into their own, the poppy and catchy chorus giving way to some moody bass work and keyboard effects. This rose into a crescendo of heavy riffage accompanied by haunting and melodic keyboarding before crashing back into the chorus for a satisfying finish. It was obvious from the offset that Silversun Pickups were offering a pleasantly familiar sound but with an innovative and exciting spin that made them a pleasure to watch. This innovation wasn’t restricted to one song, either, and showed its beautiful head throughout the set. Particularly in the crowd pleasing 'Lazy Eye', the latter part of which created a wall of noise that was so truly epic that it burst through any barriers that the bands’ genre imposed.

The energy and individuality was by no means purely musical. The band members themselves were an interesting watch. The drummer, Christopher Guanlao, for example, made the unusual choice of having his main symbol extended about six feet above the ground so that in order to hit it he would have to stretch his hand way above his head. What made this all the more entertaining is the fact that it obviously wasn’t a preference based around convenience because it looked, to me anyway, like it was really hard work even to pull off a simple beat that revolving that symbol. What’s more he never once stopped head banging throughout the whole show. Watching this eccentric stick waving maniac for two hours would have been entertaining enough.

Front man Brian Aubert demonstrated great talent on the guitar and utilised his impressive array of pedals, as well as getting some help from keyboardist Joe Lester, to create some profound, moody, atmospheric and just plain cool sounds that really worked to set the music apart from other alternative rock bands. Vocally Brian Aubert displayed a similar flare and changed effortlessly from breathy intimate melodies to raw passionate shouts that still maintained a melodic nature. Towards the end of the show his voice did give way to the strain a bit at times but this by no means took anything away from the enjoyment. On top of all this, during the heavier instrumental parts Brian had enough energy left to really give his all to throwing himself around.


Nikki Monninger’s bass was strong and indispensable, sometimes carrying the melody in quieter parts, and also giving invaluable bulk to the heavier climaxes. Kinetically she was slightly limited, especially in light of Brian and Christopher’s tireless enthusiasm, which made her almost seem shy. This had no great effect on the bands overall visage, however, and is certainly better than musicians who force themselves to ‘rock out’ when they’re clearly not comfortable doing so.

A relatively well selected set was bought to an end by some obviously well known songs ('Kissing Families' and 'Lazy Eye') which provoked roars of applause and shouts of appreciation. The closing track 'Common Reactor' (also the closing track from their album: Carnavas) seemed an odd choice and felt weak after the strength of 'Lazy Eye'. This, however, wasn’t enough to detract from what was a true demonstration of gifted song writing and competent showmanship. Silversun Pickups are definitely worth seeing.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.