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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Swoon
EMAILPRINTby Silversun Pickups
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 21 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 24 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Dangerbird
Release Date: 14 April 2009
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock, Indie
Summary
The second album for the Los Angeles indie-rock band was produced by Dave Cooley.
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
New Musical Express
Swoon is a bit of a dying whale of a record. In a good way; vast, dark, a little mysterious, sad, dignified and palpably in pain.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times
If Swoon isn't quite this year's "Tusk," the Silversun Pickups are exploring fresh territory of their own and keeping it easy to follow.
Read Full Review >Sputnikmusic
It's intimate, accessible, and--Pumpkins comparisons aside--fairly unique in today's scene. What more could one ask for?
Read Full Review >Dot Music
It would be thrilling to hear a Silversun Pickups record which finally shakes off all their influences and creates something entirely their own. Swoon isn't quite that record, but it takes them closer to that goal, and is a seductive, intricate thing of beauty in itself.
Read Full Review >Filter
Heavier, headier, and roaring with a kind of rock assault unimaginable from its first, the band lays it all on the table from the get-go. [Spring 2009, p. 91]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
It lacks some of Carnavas’ instant pleasures, but Swoon finds Silversun Pickups on the right path.
Read Full Review >Blender
Aubert’s dude-sings-like-a-lady tenor conjures false hope for a relationship he knows is doomed. SSPU salute misery as a kind of ideal, the opposite of love but just as beautiful.
Read Full Review >musicOMH.com
Swoon, then, is a mixed listening experience, with the solemnity and over-seriousness of the general tone and the occasionally grating nature of that voice being more or less mitigated by some lovely melodies and first-rate guitar riffs.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Swoon improves on the Pickups' 2006 debut, Carnavas, with less slavish writing and more articulated dynamics.
Read Full Review >Spin
The Pickups also pile on the sophomore-album enhancements here, deepening a sound that scarcely wanted for depth beforehand.
Read Full Review >Delusions of Adequacy
The fuzzed out riffage and ethereal interludes are in place, but Swoon lacks the diverse textures, clever lyrics, and emotional depth that the Pumpkins honed over a 10 year span. And this is as it should be.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
We are left with not so much a Pickup as a throwback: agreeable, but never truly unmissable.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
They sound more attractive, though, when they excercise a little restraint, as on 'Substitution:' less dramatic, but less contrived, too.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
There's no denying that the darker mood suits them--although with Kevin Shields and co now out of retirement as well, it could be back to the drawing board again. [May 2009, p.119]
Pitchfork
Swoon ultimately delivers the exact same results as its predecessor mostly because it's written in nearly the exact same way. The problem all along for the Silversun Pickups isn't that they sound too much like the Smashing Pumpkins. They just sound way too much like themselves.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
It's pleasant enough, particularly when the breathy vocals fade away to leave behind cascades of guitars, but even at its best, it's nothing more than an approximation of Smashing Pumpkins at their peak, with all the interesting parts stripped away.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Swoon’s self-induced flaws are endless, which is disappointing because Silversun Pickups seem like great musicians who could easily craft an exciting song--if they stepped out of the Pumpkins’ shadow.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
The Silversun Pickups show here that they've got a competent grasp of the amp-frying guitar soundscape, but someone needs to teach them how to write a decent rock song.
Read Full Review >Mojo
This second album owes nothing to Kevin Shields and just about everything to the Smashing Pumpkins. [May 2009, p.69]
Uncut
For all the dazzling dynamics, much of it recalling the '90s from shoegaze to Sonic Youth, the writing leaves little lasting impression, and Brian Aubert's affected vocals drag things down. [Jul 2009, p.97]
Drowned In Sound
Even a past-it Smashing Pumpkins ‘reunion’ with only Corgan remaining is more acceptable than this awful mimickery and that’s not a good place for a band to be.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 24 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Joe gave it a10:
This is the band's best release yet. I really don't see similarities with them and the Pumpkins and I am a fan of both.
whatever gave it an8:
interesting reviews. sound too much like the smashing pumpkins? hmmm no...there are hints yes, but one cannot deny their influences. do heavy metal bands get criticized for sounding too much like black sabbath? this is something i have been waiting for the last few years: rock with a pulse. you can feel this music, as opposed to just listening to it. rock on.
Stephen L gave it an8:
On Swoon SSPU are great, i wish i could elaborate in some over the top literary manner but i'm kinda struggling for the appropriate wording. Carnavas and Pikul do the slow songs much better, but this one has the hard and heavy ones down. My only complaint is that draining sounds a little underworked. Its not bad but could have been agood bit more. enjoy though great album!!
Matt N gave it an8:
A gorgeous album. Great continuation of the Carnavas sound with some new layers. The addition of an orchestra to tracks is great, if a little overdone in places. It's let down by the order of the songs, the best ones are all in the first half. Not an immediate album, but a real grower that gets under your skin.
Alex V gave it a9:
A wonderful piece of art that is unique in its own way. Silversun didnt try to make an over the top album, they made a dark, mysterious, powerful album with Brian Aubert's (vocalist/lead guitarist) high voltage and innovative guitar playing and the rest of band playing just as hard. Then it becomes a delicate and quiet sound. A bold album that will grow on you just as Carnavas. 9/10
Jamie W gave it a9:
What a surprise, Pitchfork talking bollocks again. 'They sound too much like themselves'? Is that supposed to be a sniggering dig at the band or is it meant to have weighty, intelligent meaning? Either way, it's an embaressingly written summation.
