![]() ![]() ‘Tapedeck’ has lovely resonating marimba or vibraphone playing over a dancy syncopated beat and dripping with odd sounds that allude to industrial music. The guitar solo is a ripper too, with some delicious tones. ‘Pins & Needles’ is my personal favourite, featuring a groovy swagger thanks to slide guitar before returning to the familiar infectious fuzzy sound. ![]() Clinky slow xylophones, a child singing, and odd vocals all feature in outros that seem out of place, in attempt to mix things up. And there are so many strange outros that don’t match their respective songs. Many start strong and unique, before slowly reverting back to the usual fuzzy sound. You can tell that they’ve made an effort to prevent the songs all sounding the same. It’s impressive that the band can keep their familiar signature sound and still write songs that sound different. (WARNING the above video contains violence and nudity.) It’s not as upbeat, but the distinctive drumming, moody bass, and victorious chorus make it a perfect synth pop anthem. Lead single ‘Nightlight’ also has a lot of similar elements to Nine Inch Nail’s ‘Hand That Feeds’. The cut out chorus sung a capella over hand claps adds to the eerie feel. It begins with threatening throbbing bass that evokes a tense thriller scene, before the introduction of chirpy keys reminiscent of Jay Z’s “New York State of Mind”. For example, ‘Friendly Fires’ reminds me of soundtrack work that the album’s mixer Alan Moulder has done alongside Nine Inch Nail’s Trent Reznor in the past. Watch the video of their last video clip ( Cannibal) and compare his appearance to the ‘Nightlight’ video and you’ll see what I mean.īetter Nature features loads of interesting sounds and tones, lurking almost into industrial territory at times. Frontman Brian Aubert even looks more wild. More variety, more attitude, more wild and unkempt. It’s the same Silversun Pickups sounds that you know – crisp drums, throbbing bass, ethereal fuzzy guitar and atmospheric synths. Second song ‘Connection’ follows up just as strong. The previously shy shoegaze sound has turned frantic and demands the listener’s attention, while still retaining the attractive fuzziness. I realised something different was up at the songs halfway point, when the choral chant of “Better! Nature!” launches into a raunchy guitar solo. The titular opening track ‘Cradle (Better Nature)’ is more explosive than I had expected from the band based on their earlier output. The band encored with three songs, “TapeDeck”, “Dots and Dashes”, and “The Wild Kind.(Clockwise from L-R): Joe Lester (keyboards), Nikki Monninger (bass), Christopher Guanlao (drums), Brian Aubert (guitar, vocals). One of the best moments of the night was when the band performed, “Lazy Eye” a cult favorite off their debut album, Carnavas (2006), as the band played the ending of the song with a solo performance and jammed through the ending. Aubert was filled with words throughout the whole show, between performances, he would stop to thank Toronto fans, and express his love for Toronto as well as bassist, Nikki, who he stated was a bit shy to perform “Circadian Rhythm (Last Dance).” Brian directed the audience’s attention to Nikki’s vocals during the second verse of the song. This was a common theme throughout the night as each song played off the new album couples and older fans among the audience stood in awe and remained composed and paid attention. The audience is more interested rather than energetic as it was everyone’s first time hearing the song live. Lead singer, Brian Aubert, begins the show with “Cradle” the first track off their newest album, Better Nature (2016). Silversun Pickups took stage and the band is greeted with a roaring crowd. The one year old band were impressive to say the least, a nice mixture of dream-pop and alt is definitely one of the reasons to check out this band. Lead singer, Jacob Alexander, was energetic throughout songs like, “Tryna Be”, a song filled with a light repetitive riff and a banging bass line. Comprised of four males who formed their band earlier last year, they released with debut EP, Believe (2016) and used it as the tier of their set list to perform an memorable show. Not too far off from the headliners, The Silversun Pickups, the band, had their own uniqueness to them. ROMES, a Canadian quartet from Toronto, opened the night on a pop filled contrast. The band is currently on tour with supporting act, ROMES. Previously, the band released a singles compilation album, comprised of all their top hits, which allowed fans to still be engaged with the band before filling in the two year gap with a new album. ![]() The new-gaze quartet has received positive reviews towards their latest record. Los Angeles native’s Silversun Pickups hit Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall on their North American Tour supporting their newest album, Better Nature (2016). ![]()
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