Pikul: The Humble Beginnings of Silversun Pickups
Taking a look at the debut EP for one of my favorite 2000s’ indie rock bands.
I’ve always joked that Silversun Pickups has been bad for my seasonal depression, and the band’s debut EP, Pikul, is certainly no exception to that rule. The band’s earlier projects take a very straightforward approach to a shoegaze-inspired sound, and Brian Aubert (vocals, guitar) wastes absolutely no time in letting you know what Silversun Pickups is truly about. Pikul opens up with “Kissing Families,” a song with a somewhat tame opening that breaks down quickly into the musical disarray and oscillating guitar that Silversun Pickups fans have come to know and love.
Tasting Notes
I want to preface your listening to this album by saying this: I think this is one of the best “sad” alternative rock albums I have in my personal catalog. Every song on this list is depressing at worst, and bittersweet at best. None of the musical “victories” of this album last for long, if they exist at all, but Aubert manages to paint some of his most sobering imagery inside of Pikul that keeps you spinning until the record is over. This album is good in the way that a good cry is good — that type of cathartic feeling that keeps you coming back for more.
Best Song on the Album?
Although nearly 8 minutes long, “All the Go Inbetweens” tells a gripping story of what it’s like to wake up with the realization that the world is going to one day leave you behind. The wavering bass guitar and consistent drum track glue everything together in a hypnotic rhythm that sets a tone like a deep recollection of the character in Aubert’s song. The song ends, and punctuates the back half of the album with a general feeling that I feel pops up a lot throughout the EP: “I’ve come away from this situation wiser, but at what cost?”
Musically Speaking
I love this album. Silversun Pickups has always had some of my favorite group chemistry, and it really shows in Pikul. Nikki Monninger (bass) and Chris Guanlao (drums) do not particularly push the envelope in their musicianship for SSPU’s first EP, but their tightness and attentiveness to Aubert’s vocals comes through sharply in their recordings. Silversun Pickups are here to tell you a story first; everything else is second to this fact.
This album is filled with layers of screeching guitar in the best way, a clear nod to the shoegaze genre of the ’90s that so heavily influenced the early Silversun Pickups sound. This makes Pikul an even more exciting album contextually, as the band would later go on to drop this sound almost entirely in favor of a more produced electronic sound starting with their 2012 release, Neck of the Woods. While not their most guitar- or effects-heavy album, Pikul is still a gem in its own right simply due to the power of the songwriting.
My Suggestions
Here are a few song suggestions if you want to dabble before sinking your teeth completely into the EP.
If you liked “All the Go Inbetweens” and want to step into the more aggressive tracks:
Try “Comeback Kid”, “The Fuzz”, and “Kissing Families”.
The more mellow tracks on the album:
“Booksmart Devil”, “Creation Lake”, and “Sci Fi Lullaby”.
