I went to see Silversun Pickups and a rock show broke out

Monday night was the Silversun Pickups (SSPU) and Sea Wolf show at the Ogden and both bands lived up to their hype quite well.

Sea Wolf started their set about a 1/2 hour late but when they came out they won much of the crowd over with two brand new songs and some very bashful thank yous fallowing each. The new stuff was a what I believed Sea Wolf could be all along: a deeply rhythmic folk band singing very engaging storeys about people who live far away.

It was interesting seeing them because they are still forming as a band and you can tell that while Alex is the number one guy, the others are still grasping for a way to put their mark on the band. Even with this tenativeness Alex kept his voice high and the rhythms low and confident, slowly drawing the crowd into his dark and foggy world.

They finished the set with their three best songs in quick succession going, "Garden that you Planted," "Your a Wolf" and "Black Feet" to close the 45 minuet adventure. Me and Sean were quite delighted with this close out and even more so when they said off hand that a new album from them would be out September 25th. While most of the crowd was just passing the time till SSPU, this small set and first ever stop for Sea Wolf in Colorado, heightened my love for them and really raised my hopes for what they could do on this new album.

Silversun came out to much applause and went right to it. I had not seen videos or heard tell of their stage presence so I was a little taken aback by the force they draw out of two guitars and a key board. Someone on youtube was saying that their sound patterns looked more like a block then a wave, and weather that is true or not, I can tell you that it was quite powerfull without being extremely loud. I really think it was something to do with the distortion that made it so intresting to the ear.

I was also moved by how great a show band they were. The lead singer prowled the stage and seemed to be loving every second of the show. For such a small man he packs quite a voice, Lord knows it cant be easy to sing that high at altitude but unlike Sea Wolf or the other bands I watched struggle he hit all his marks and still had time to rock out.

They played most everything you can imagine, but for the record, I would like to also note that SSPU played for over an hour and with very little breaking. Yes there was some jamming in there but for the most part it was a pretty straight set and encore. An astonishing feat when one considers that they mearly have one album and one E.P from which to draw.

Mostly the show was great, I am not usually ok with random jamming but the wicked guitar play and interesting habits of the band kept my attention quite handily. If I had to guess this band is only an album or two away from mild stardom. After all, their pedigree (straight out of the Silver Lake area of L.A) and unique noise will keep the mainstream media interested for a while.

Well Thought Out Twinkles.mp3--Silversun Pickups