“We just sound like us,” Lester says quickly, when asked to interpret thesonic deliveries. Thirty-year-old Lester joined the band over three yearsago, but claims that describing his band’s music is still “sticky business.”He trips over his thoughts for a moment and then declares, “[Our music]is just an amalgamation of stuff that we’ve all listened to since we werekids, and we’re just trying to do something that we think is good andinteresting, and not like everything else that’s out.”As soon as Carnavas kicks into play mode, it’s a reflex to jump tocomparisons like the ethereal parts of My Bloody Valentine, the digitalcommotion of Múm and the quirky chaos of Neu!, but the album possessesbright, aggressive uproars of its own. Lyrically, Carnavas tears througha celebrated stream of repetitive, semi-indecipherable choruses. Theemphasis is on vocal delivery, which ranges from melodious to vociferous,rather than the subjective content of the songs.Even though Lester thinks his band produces solid music, when asked ifhe’d ever play a Silversun Pickup CD when he’s hanging out at home, hisresponse is, “Oh God, no!” This comment leads to another confession.“I haven’t actually listened to the whole record probably since we masteredit, when we actually had to listen to it,” he says.Lester hastily tries to vindicate what he means. “You’re never exactlyhappy [with your own record]. I mean, I’m really proud of the record, andI think it’s as good a record as we could make. It was the record that wereally wanted to make,” he says. “At the same time, it’s like, every oncein a while you think, ‘Oh, I should have done this.’ So it’s better to just letother people listen to it and make their own decision.”SILVERSUNPICKUPSStory: Monica CadyYour cousin was totally wrong. Los Angeles’ Silversun Pickupswere not named after a gang of West Coast pickup truck drivers.They were, however, named in honor of a liquor store in SouthernCalifornia.In 2005, they released a six-song EP, Pikul, but this quintet (BrianAubert, Nikki Monninger, Christopher Guanlao, Joe Lester) cameinto the spotlight most recently with their hit “Lazy Eye,” from theirfirst full-length record Carnavas. “Lazy Eye” is defined by a persistentguitar backbeat swirled around an easy-seated Smashing Pumpkinsflow that gets crunchy in a soft-loud-soft ’90s garage way.Keyboardist Joe Lester says that Silversun Pickups’ newfoundsuccess has come as a surprise to all the band members. He thinkstheir popularity has a lot to do with the support they received earlyon from radio stations. “It’s sort of weird because the record cameout and it was doing pretty well. A lot of radio stations were playingit,” he says. “People just seemed to like it, and it started beingplayed more. It’s funny. I don’t think any of us really realize howgreat it is to get radio airplay. People do actually still listen to theradio,” he says.The remaining 10 tracks of Carnavas stray into territory that isn’toften heard in chart-topping new releases. The tracks get roughand dreamy like good grunge songs should, adding a kind ofRadiohead circa-2000 electronic oddity. Unlike much of the newindie-minded rock, Carnavas brings hazy-headed emotion andmassive-shifting volume levels to the forefront with a heavy foot onthe distortion pedal.28| DEC <strong>RAG</strong> MAGAZINEA lot of the layered ruckus on the record is due, in part, to the tinkering ofLester, who was a bassist before taking on keyboards with SilversunPickups. “I’m not a trained piano player or anything. It’s just been anexperimentation process. There aren’t a lot of straight-up keyboard lineson the record. It’s more like trying to find interesting ways to take upspace sonically, and add textures,” he says.Lester’s general approach to playing keyboard is for the final outcome tonot sound too much like a keyboard or a guitar. Instead, it’s a sampledrivensound. “I’ll sample guitar feedback and I’ll sample all three of the[members] singing a note and run it though a bunch of filters, and justmake strange textural stuff,” says Lester. “Our main goal with [Carnavas]was to get the energy of our live show onto CD,” he adds.Silversun Pickups have toured with such established artists as BrendanBenson, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Wolfmother and Dead Meadow.This month, they hit the road with Snow Patrol. Lester admits that whenthe band first received the offer, they didn’t see any artistic relevance inhaving the two bands tour together.“Musically, when it first came up, I was like, ‘I don’t know if that’s aperfect fit,’” he says. The union came about because a friend of SilversunPickups was working for Snow Patrol. “[Snow Patrol] heard [our CD]and really liked it. So they actually requested us to do the tour with them.That’s pretty awesome to know that it’s not some manger doing someoneelse’s manager a favor,” Lester says. “All the venues [on this tour] arefucking enormous. It will totally be a new experience, which will be fun,”he adds with enthusiasm.“We’re always stoked to get back on the road and play live shows.That’s where we all have the most fun, I think,” he says. “Florida shouldbe interesting because we’ve never been there before.”When performing live, Lester says “goofy technical” things go throughhis mind. “[It’s stuff like], ‘I hope that’s loud enough,’” he says, laughing.“I used to get super, super nervous. Now, it’s like I just get antsy becauseI want to get up there and play. It’s not so much nervous; it’s more likeanxious energy. We know what we’re doing. I think it’s just like, ‘Let’sget up there and do it.’”Story: Joseph VilaneSilversun Pickups open for Snow Patrol on March 19 th at theBank United Center.
ALICE IN CHAINSREVOLUTIONPhoto Logan Faziowww.<strong>RAG</strong>magazine.com | 29