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by Hane C. Lee
For someone who grew up around Los Angeles, Brian Aubert is
a little behind the curve when it comes to "The O.C."
"I probably know less about it than anybody in the world," admits the boyish Silversun Pickups singer and guitarist who only recently discovered Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD.
But Aubert has a good excuse: For the last couple of years, the LA-based
band has been consumed with near-constant local gigs, recording their debut full-length,
and more recently, touring the country with the likes of Brendan Benson, Viva
Voce and Wolfmother.
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Aubert originally formed Silversun Pickups in 2000 with bassist
and backup vocalist Nikki Monninger — a fellow Angeleno
whom Aubert met on a study abroad program in Cambridge, England — and
their respective sweethearts at the time. Led by Aubert's countertenor,
falling somewhere between Kim Deal's rasp and Billy Corgan's
snarl, the band quickly earned a reputation for energetic live
performances that showcased its early '90s-esque fuzzy-guitar
college rock.
Rounding out the lineup with drummer Christopher Guanlao and keyboardist Joe Lester, Silversun Pickups released a six-song EP in 2005 and followed it up last summer with Carnavas on indie label Dangerbird Records. The album, which recently broke into the Billboard 200, is chock-full of catchy but unlikely hits, most clocking in at more than five minutes and only a few following the traditional verse-chorus-verse song structure. Highlights include "Melatonin," with its rolling, syncopated drumbeat; droney pop gem "Little Lover's So Polite"; the brooding "Rusted Wheel"; and, of course, "Lazy Eye," the single in heavy rotation on modern rock radio around the country and nominated for a PLUG Independent Music Award song of the year — a fact that has Aubert baffled, albeit pleasantly.
"Like, where's the chorus? It doesn't change. It's like six minutes long," he says, rattling off reasons some might consider it "all wrong" as a hit single. "I can't believe it…to see it happening without us having to bend in any way."
"We do things the way we want to," Aubert elaborates. "There's safety in knowing you're not mainstream, being on a little label no one's heard of. Things have kind of rolled with ourselves doing it the way we want."
Indeed, with a recent appearance on Late Night With David Letterman, an upcoming national tour supporting Snow Patrol, and a performance at the renowned Coachella music festival, doing things the way they want seems to be paying off for Silversun Pickups. Aubert jokes that the band's growing success means that their concert rider will become more demanding, with the inclusion of herbal relaxers, Underoos and virtual snow everywhere they go.
"And," he adds, "DVDs of 'The O.C.,' so we can catch up."
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