Thursday Pickups

Initially, this blog was supposed to be about obscure bands... but looking back, I don't think I'm delivering. For the next few days, I'm going to change that and give you a bit more bands that are more fighting along the precipice of obscurity.

The song and video below is "Lazy Eye" from the Silversun Pickups album Carnavas. It's the second single off the album, and was a brief hit on MTV before fading out. The sound is akin to early Smashing Pumpkins, with soft beginnings, harder middles and bridges, and a harsh vocal line over the top. The makeup of the band has such similarities to the Pumpkins, that is rather hard not to make the comparison. Where the Pumpkins started to fall was the hubris of Corgan's "Message" over the song, and the Pickups don't seem to be doing that. They just seem to be singing, and enjoying what they are doing. During the video, while playing, they just seem to be lost in the moment.

That is a really fun feeling, as a musician. Sometimes, when you close your eyes and play, you acually feel the music through you. If you are playing a guitar, you can feel the vibration of the notes against your body. The piano, you can feel it respond under your fingertips, and through the seatbench. It's quite amazing. You can follow YouTube and catch some of the live performances of this band and witness it... which is where the Silversun Pickups differentiate from the Smashing Pumpkins.

So, enjoy "Lazy Eye."


Also, people under the age of 18 shouldn't be allowed in bars. That was the strangest part of the video. Just my thought.
-om