Silversun Pickups : " Physical Thrills"

I was a fan of their first two albums, so not sure why let some of their more recent releases lapse. I like the place those albums led the band to a point where there is a bleaker moodiness. The dreamy dynamics are still there in fact amplified since their early days. This song is more shoegazey than grunge if we are splitting hairs, though they have always reminded me of Smashing Pumpkins. Things get moderately more dancey with the pop like groove that compels "Sticks and Stones. The androgynous voice of Brian Aubert has grown in both range and power since the earlier days. He throws his voice around more like Thom Yorke now. The more pop rock leaning makes another grab for radio play with the upbeat "Hereafter". It might be a little happy for me, but I cannot deny it is well written. There are these "dream tempo" interludes that are under two minutes. The bass player sings on the first one, then others seem like ideas of songs never fully realized. I am not counting them for the purpose of this review. 

There is a bigger groove to "Scared Together". Niki takes over the mic for "Alone on a Hill" which is very vocal focused and moves more like a dreamy pop song. There seems to be a lot of reflection on the pandemic lockdown in the lyrics. They do this without getting political in the process. The tightly wound syncopation of " Hidden Moon" is interesting. it hard to pigeonhole what they are doing here, but it works well. Something and perhaps it's the bass tone of "System Error" makes me think of White Stripes.  "Empty Nest" is another interesting blend of pop with rock, as the melody bounces in a sugary fashion.  The more subdued "We Won't Come Out" feels like it was supposed to be the theme song for a James Bond movie that was never used.

The first songs with any rock heft to it is "Stay Down" but it's the first that rocks like they used to. Even then I am not referring to their heaviest moments. At the other end of the spectrum, they close the album with the sparse ballad "Quicksand" which really just works off the vocal melody. I will give this album a 9, as it's well written, but a wide step away from their rock sound, which plays both for and against them in some ways.  It's their talent as songwriters that makes this excel at the end of the day.