Silverchair | Young Modern (Eleven)

The band has grown far past the precocious teens of the mid-'90s dubbed "Nirvana in Pajamas" by the mainstream U.S. press.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll admit. I have a bias.

I love Silverchair. They were the first band I ever saw live. In most cases, 11 years after a person first likes a band, that initial interest fades. Times change. Tastes change. People change.

Yet, after all these years, Silverchair continue to surprise me in their growth as artists and songwriters. I've grown up with them, through good times and bad. Their fifth album, Young Modern, finds the band picking up where they left off with 2002's Diorama, intertwining lush, orchestral landscapes with modern pop rock. Not to be confused with its predecessor, Young Modern is an entirely different beast altogether. While Diorama demanded careful attention from its listener, Young Modern challenges the audience, almost dares them not to join the fun. From the driving four-on-the-floor dance of the opening track "Young Modern Station" to the Orbison-esque swell of "Waiting All Day," singer/songwriter Daniel Johns traverses genres openly, signifying a number of different influences including but not limited to the Rolling Stones ("Mindreader") and the Beatles ("Reflections of a Sound").

Fans of Silverchair's breakthrough platinum-plus phenomenon Frogstomp or its 1997 follow-up Freakshow may be disappointed with the lack of guitar-driven angst-rock on Young Modern. The band has grown far past the precocious teens of the mid-'90s dubbed "Nirvana in Pajamas" by the mainstream U.S. press. If anything, their personal and musical growth is their greatest advantage and can be followed like a road map from one album to the next. Frogstomp was innocent excitement. Freakshow was full of anger. 1999's Neon Ballroom was both a musical high and a personal low for the band, as Johns struggled through life-threatening anorexia and severe depression. The album served though as a musical turning point for the band, and hinted at what was to come with 2002's follow-up masterpiece Diorama. Almost a Broadway musical meets rock album, Diorama was a critical masterpiece, but a commercial flop. As the record was released, Johns was diagnosed with a paralyzing bout of reactive arthritis that took him almost a year from which to recover.

It was at which point the band took an indefinite break from all things Silverchair. Johns embarked on a Beatles meets Beach Boys meets the Postal Service side project called the Dissociatives with longtime friend and Silverchair collaborator Paul Mac. Drummer Ben Gillies formed a band called Tambalane and released an album while bass player Chris Joannou sat in the producer's chair for other bands in Australia.

So then, what does all this history have to do with Young Modern? In a word: everything.

Young Modern is the culmination of all past Silverchair releases. It contains bits and pieces of the best parts of preceding Silverchair records, with enough fresh (and danceable) new ground being tread to entice listeners old and young alike. The lead single "Straight Lines" has already made its impact on U.S. modern rock radio in the past months. The video for the single has also been added into heavy rotation on influential channels such as VH1 and Fuse.

At only 28 years old, the boys of Silverchair are already 13-year veterans of the music industry. With the U.S. release of Young Modern, they show no signs of slowing. One can only wonder where they'll go from here. A | Nickolas Blazina

RIYL: Coldplay, Beatles, U2, The Dissociatives