Silversun Pickups Expose Themselves

Los Angeles rock band Silversun Pickups have been averaging about three years between albums. That span expands to nearly four for their fifth LP, Widow’s Weeds, due out June 7 on their own New Machine Recordings label. Butch Vig, a man who seems to know what he’s doing in a recording studio, produced the sessions. “He really listens to each band member, and he puts a great value on each individual, and what they can add to the music,” testifies bass guitarist Nikki Monninger. “It was very collaborative with him. He’s such an easygoing person, and he put everybody at ease.”

The recording of the album took place during a period of challenges for certain members. Keyboardist Joe Lester’s pop passed away. And vocalist/guitarist Brian Aubert went into treatment to sober up. He says such trials contributed to the album’s themes of rebirth and renewal. “We were open. We were exposed,” he says. “This album feels the most naked out of all of them.”

There’s no nudity, but there are a lot of what might very well be interpretive renditions of David Byrne’s spastic fits from Talking Heads’ “Once In a Lifetime” video in the band’s clip for fidgety new track “It Doesn’t Matter Why,” the album’s first single.

Photo by Claire Marie Vogel.