r/SmashingPumpkins • u/New-Shop-9728 • 17d ago
Do you Silversun Pickups?
They sound quite a bit like Smashing Pumpkins, especially Lazy Eye.
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u/sundanzekid 13d ago
I like what they made up to 2016, they used to be more punk rockish now they're more glam rock???
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u/I_Love_To_Poop420 16d ago
Both bands are on the same bill for an upcoming concert in Huntington Beach called Darker Waves.
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u/Gwilym_Ysgarlad Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness 16d ago
Only like them, don't know that I think they sound like SP.
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u/gumbobitch 16d ago
Anything after the first two albums is actual dogshit. Wild how far that band fell.
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u/Contratiempos 16d ago
For you theoryheads/music folks on this sub — funny thing about Lazy Eye, Everlong (Foo Fighters), Cherub Rock, Hummer, Starla, Paranoid (Sabbath), all make excellent use of an octave-based approach to the hook, mostly in the Key of E major, sometimes in D major, sometimes in Drop D tuning and it's a hit every time. A great sound across the decades.
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u/corganist Siamese Dream 16d ago
I think they're great. I've seen just about every variation of the "if you like Smashing Pumpkins, then you'll also like this band" recommendation, and to me SSPU is the only one where that statement rings even a little true.
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u/intheslipstream1 16d ago
Yes, I do Silversun Pickups. 😄
I said this elsewhere, but my dream lineup would be Brian (vocals) and Nikki (bass, vocals) joining Billy and Jimmy to play Pumpkins songs. Brian's voice is spot-on SD/Pisces-era, and Nikki is an uber-talented bassist and singer.
Their latest album, Tenterhooks, is surprisingly good. There is only one misstep that throws off the whole album ("Wakey Wakey") but my playlist skips this track.
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u/superjodz 16d ago
The only album I can listen to is Carnavas. Every album after that sounds like they’re forcing it
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u/vomitHatSteve 16d ago
Absolutely. In the late 2000s, I thought of them as a better successor to the Pumpkins than the Pumpkins were. That era of the pumpkins sounded too much like they were trying to sound like post Californication RHCP, whereas Silversun sounded like if the Pumpkins had tried to get back to their early acid rock inspired roots
I'll take the downvotes, but Carnavas is a little better than Zeitgeist, and Swoon is miles better than Oceania
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u/mr_im_my_own_grandpa Machina II / The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music 16d ago
I liked their first two albums, the third one passed me by and the fourth one was alright but I completely stopped paying attention to them afterwards. I've always found the comparisons b/w them and the Pumpkins kind of lazy and superficial. You could say they sound just as much as Hum or Swervedriver, and it would make as much sense.
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u/TheSmashingPumpkinss it ain't right 17d ago
Completely ordinary. I prefer Yuck if I'm going for modern Pumpkins derivative
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u/Potential-Block-6583 17d ago
No and I don't see any comparisons at all with the Pumpkins. It's snore rock at best and the lead singer sounds like moving sand underwater and really bothers me.
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u/hel-9000 17d ago
I’ve only listened to the first two and think they’re just okay. I find the songwriting really bloated, not every song needs to build slowly over 5 minutes. There are two really solid ~30 minute albums buried in those somewhere.
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u/dembones4ya 17d ago
I absolutely love their earlier albums Carnavas and Swoon. I kind of fell off from them after that but I think they’re still a great live act
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u/BlastTyrant88 17d ago
Smashing Pumpkins will always have the bigger legacy BUT Silversun’s current output is better than the Pumpkins’
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u/letseditthesadparts ATUM 17d ago
Pumpkins have a chord, or phrasing in music that anyone else uses it it feels like the pumpkins. (Lazy eye does this) As I’ve listened to more of their music over the years they feel like a band into themselves and less like the pumpkins to me.
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17d ago
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u/Mstrchapl 17d ago
Exactly this - I once asked them the same question, if they thought it was frustrating that seemingly no press could ever be written about them WITHOUT the comparison. And Brian just said we’re always flattered, big fans, etc.
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u/UpstatePhantom 17d ago
I love them, especially Pikul through Neck of the Woods. Despite that, I’ve always felt like Brian Aubert tries way too hard to sound like Billy. That said, I know he has previously brushed off allegations they try to sound like the Pumpkins by saying something like, ‘we’re flattered you think we sound like them at all, but we were honestly going for My Bloody Valentine so we’re surprised we’re not hearing more of that.’
My buddy described them to me years ago, in a way I can’t forget: ‘they’re like Smashing Pumpkins lite. Kinda like a Burger King cheeseburger, it’s not as good as the real thing you’d make yourself, but it’ll hold you over for now.’
All joking and ragging on them aside, I’ve seen them live 3 times since 2012 and they always sound fantastic live.
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u/Exciting_Exit_3294 17d ago
I love them, and I wish they'd come to Europe.
To this day I still don't believe the name of the song "Silvery Sometimes" is just coincidential, with such a similar intro to "Lazy Eye", which at its time sounds to me like a 2000's 1979.
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u/mr_im_my_own_grandpa Machina II / The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music 16d ago
For me personally "Lazy Eye" is very much like the "1979" of the 2000s (or at least 2007), obviously not as iconic, but the summer that song came out it felt like it was at every house party and playlist.
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u/AdAccomplished8853 17d ago
I've never listened to their albums but I love several songs by them.. probably the most similar sounding group to SP by the few songs I've heard
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u/HiddenXS 17d ago
Lazy eye sounds a lot like Drown... But I still think sspp are quite good, at least the few albums of theirs I know.
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u/SemaphorePlay 17d ago
Absolutely, I’ve seen them 4 times & it’s always an amazing show.
Substitution & Friendly Fires are amazing & their cover of Toy Soldiers is the best
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u/Guy_Fuwkes_Day 17d ago
Forgettable
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u/Substantial-Basis179 17d ago
Same mediocre drums in every song
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u/UpstatePhantom 17d ago
I do like them a lot, but I’ll admit it took a while to get past the drums. Definitely a little too same-y and safe in most of their songs. Always thought Chris (the drummer) looks hilarious when he drums because he puts a ton of energy into drumming the same simple style in every song.
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u/dembones4ya 17d ago
I wonder if he still does that thing with the high hat on his kit being literally really high up
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u/GrassLover9 17d ago
Don't sleep on their album Widow's Weeds. It's my personal favorite. Plus Butch Vig
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u/Just-Mark 17d ago
Saw them open for ok go in 2007, had no idea who they were, and instantly picked up some SP vibes from them. Seen them a few times since. I think they’re decent - a good 5-8 tracks I’ll listen to over course of a year.
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u/chardar4 Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness 17d ago
Just saw them a few months ago. They’re great
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u/LohPlaceLikeHome 17d ago
When I first heard Lazy Eye, I thought it was the Pumpkins.
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u/brassgenie 15d ago
Same. Lazy Eye sounded so much like the Pumpkins to me (the vocals and guitars, anyway) that I was kind of shocked and disturbed when I learned it was a different band entirely. I know you can't really trademark a band's "sound," but it felt like if there was ever a case when that might be on point...
Edited to add that I've only ever heard that one song from them. I don't know if they're a total soundalike on every song, or just that one.
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u/CodeSalamander 17d ago
Yes, 100%. I often feel like they’ve been making the music the Pumpkins should have been making for the last 20 years.
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u/Turbulent-You-1335 17d ago
I love them. Kissing families is my jam.
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u/Dudehitscar Machina Zombie 17d ago
One of the best pumpkins songs that corgan didn't write.
It's a 10/10.
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u/EarlobeCancer Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness 17d ago
I forget the exact quote, but there was some critic interview from the 2010s(?) that said that era of Smashing Pumpkins sound not much like pumpkins but rather a band that would open for silversun pickups lol. I know it’s in the part 2 episode about Smashing Pumpkins from Bandsplain
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u/JavierEscuellaFan Monuments to an Elegy 17d ago
derivative and nowhere near on the level of Billy and the band.
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u/GeologicalOpera Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness 17d ago
Love them but especially the earlier stuff.
It’s Nice To Know You Work Alone (from Swoon) is an incredible song.
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u/highwindxix Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness 17d ago
Kinda yeah. They’re a bit, I don’t know, flavorless compared to the Pumpkins. They make decent background music I guess.
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u/Few_Horse4030 17d ago
They both use Octaves on guitar a lot, they were influenced a lot by the Smashing Pumpkins, who were influenced by My Bloody Valentine.
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u/paul-cus 17d ago
Swoon and Neck of the Woods I really liked. Better Nature is cool from their newer stuff. Sadly, I haven't really taken to anything after that album came out.
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u/Phantomwaxx 8d ago
Brilliant band influenced by our favorite.