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by Zack

Silversun Pickups Show Review

October 18, 2012 in Featured, Shows by Zack

“This is incredible,” swooned lead guitarist/vocalist Brian Aubert of the Silversun Pickups, just after blasting through a seemingly never-ending melt-your-face-off experience known as a Silversun Pickups show. Once Brian, Chris, Joe, and Sara (the temporary replacement for now pregnant Nikki) took the stage at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston on the 17th of October, it was as if the planets aligned and it was the last concert they would ever play. The energy of the band was such that every song seemed like it could be the climax, but they just kept playing, getting better as the night went on. I have been to many concerts in my life, and I have to say that this concert was by far my favorite. The venue, the passion, and the music came together into a trifecta of mind-blowing rock that blew the crowd away. The music combined the grit of a dirty punk rock show with the clean sound and performance you would expect from a highly trained and full manned orchestra. The opening acts were an alternative rock band from Australia called “Atlas Genius” and another alternative rock/metal group called “Cloud Nothings.” Once the Cloud Nothings finished their set, the roadies unsheathed the simple and yet powerful rig of the Silversun Pickups. At this point my thoughts were directed to the fact of how little they had, equipment wise, but how full their sound was when I heard their recorded music. However, once they took the stage I understood. Their equipment packed a punch that I never heard before. It was raw rock and yet simultaneously so rich that you could not help but stare and listen in amazement. They took away the glitz and glam of a big, Hollywood rock group and with their “bare bones” they showed that they
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by Zack

Muse – “The 2nd Law” Album Review

October 18, 2012 in Music by Zack

 Some bands find a niche they are good at and just to earn more money, they keep doing that same thing over and over again until they run into obscurity. Muse is nothing like those bands. After listening to their newest album, I now understand why being dynamic could be a musician’s biggest friend or enemy. In the case of Muse’s new album, being dynamic is their best friend. The album took everything I loved about Muse (the Queen-esque power stadium rock, the soul-driven guitar solos, Dominic’s and Chris’s basic yet moving beats and rhythms, and Matthew Bellamy’s haunting lyrics and guitar) and added a new flair to it that made me realize why I listened to them in the first place. The album starts off with a bang. “Supremacy” sounds like what would happen if you took Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” and changed it to be a James Bond theme song. With haunting melodies and dark chords, this incipient portion of this album takes you to a dark place deep in the recesses of your mind full of chaos yearning to be free. The second song “Madness” feels like a funk jam, with deeper lyrics and deeper bass. It’s like a techno song with soul. When the guitar eventually comes in, it feels just right, as if it had been there the whole time. Once the distorted guitar comes in for the simple yet incredible solo, you can just tell that Matt Bellamy took extra special care in orchestrating this. With particular notes lasting just long enough to leave you wanting more. This song feels like an epic multi-person band’s attempt and success at a powerful song with a message, but instead it is only three supreme musicians. When “Panic Station” first came on, I thought Chris Bellamy had completely
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