Smells Like Alternative

Silverchair - Young Modern

by acostill on July 24th, 2007

It’s been 5 years since Silverchair released an album and it was well worth the wait.

Who would thought that Silverchair, a group of Australian teens, would bloom into one of the best bands around right now. Australia may have never forgotten the lads, but most of us in the States seemed to; which means a lot of people are missing out on a still young and ever growing band.

I’ll be honest, I kind of forgot about Silverchair for a couple of years myself, despite loving their debut Frogstomp and being the first band that I saw live when they opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1996. I then forgot about Silverchair for most of the 90’s, only catching the hits, like “Ana’s Song”, but in 2002 I picked up Diorama and fell in love with them all over again. Then, the band went on a bit of a hiatus, working on various side projects. But earlier this year I found out that they were working on their 5th studio album and then had to wait until the U.S. release.

Young Modern was worth the wait though. The album kicks off with a 1-2-3 punch, that includes the opener “Young Modern Station”, the first singe “Straight Lines” and the incredibly catchy roller-coaster ride that is “If You Keep Losing Sleep”. The album then slows down with a slightly experimental “Reflections of A Sound” before diving into the “Those Thieving Birds (Part 1)/Strange Behaviour/Those Thieving Birds (Part 2)” medley, which starts off beautifully before becoming a catchy foot tapping tune and then ending with the beautiful music that it began with. “The Man That Too Much” is another catchy song with Stones like harmonies, which is followed by “Waiting All Day” which has an alt/country vibe. “Mind Reader” is a classic 70’s rock song that a band like Wolfmother could have easily done. “Low” returns to the alt/country vibe with a great sing-a-long chorus and lots of slide guitar. “Insomnia” is a more straight ahead rock song that slowly builds up for the chorus. Young Modern ends with “All Across The World” which contains some fine orchestra and piano bits.

Like Diorama, Silverchair does a flawless job into fusing rock and orchestra pieces on Young Modern. Daniel Johns and company are evolving into a masterful group of musicians that have many, many, many years ahead of them and I already can’t wait to hear what they can come up with next. So, do yourselves a favor and pick up Young Modern and catch Silverchair on tour if you can.

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POSTED IN: Album Reviews