Reviews

Young Modern

Silverchair

Released: Jul 24, 2007
Label: East West Records
Reviewed by: Michelle Stoffel
9 comments

Uhh, wow. I don't even know how to approach this album. It's almost mind-boggling to consider that Young Modern is made by Silverchair. My recollections of the band date back to my childhood. I remembered seeing their 1995 debut Frogstomp stacked amongst dad's CDs, alongside Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Alice in Chains. Silverchair was the manifestation of Australian post-grunge alterna-rock. Daniel Johns even had the nod-to-Eddie-Vedder vocals. I haven't been following the band, but apparently since the millennium turned over, they've abandoned that tributary sound for flowing melodies and whatnot. Personally, I don't even think this is the same band. Perhaps the original Silverchair was replaced by pod people.

At first I didn't pay much attention to the CD. Then "If You Keep Losing Sleep" came on. I noticed this awkward xylophone sound that seemed to be imitating the effect of a cartoon character playing a ribcage in some kind of Halloween special. Then the string section rose up and I began to wonder if they lifted it from the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney World. The song has this weird, creepy-music-for-kids-sound.

Another tool the band utilized (besides abundant strings) was smooth oohs and aahs reminiscent of weary hippie songs from the 1960s. The woohoos on "The Man That Knew Too Much" conjure that dancing in the sun song Sheryl Crow did a couple years back, only the Silverchair version is padded with more production. It's a pretty big change from a song seemingly out of Casper. "Low" kicks off with a twangy, yet somehow symphonic country sound, flipping from western guitar to a big, gospel chorus ooh-oohing.

But my favorite songs were those that created visions of musicals in my head. "Insomnia" immediately made me think of one of those allegedly hip musicals that feature electric guitar. I imagined casts of melodramatic singer/actors belting it out on stage to "Young Modern Station." I don't have the booklet that comes with the CD, but I can only hope they included stage blocking in the liner notes.

And then the closing song begins, which includes a "We Are The World" style chorus: "All across the world/There are things we need to forget and forgive/Sometimes we have to try and shed the damage we don't need/Oh justice shake your head/I'm on my way home." Sign up some celebrities for a remix version and package this baby for the next trendy awareness cause.

In conclusion, Young Modern is one of the most bizarre albums I've ever heard. ItÕ' not Primus weird-on-purpose weird - it's just confusing, "this is supposedly a rock album?" weird. It's like Silverchair decided to make a musical, recorded with famed movie composer John Williams, then asked a rehearsed Catholic choir to fill in the woohoos and aahs. I didn't quite understand the meaning of overproduction until now.