Silverchair - Young Modern

Genre rock Publisher Eleven Records External Links Official Silverchair Website

Plenty of time has passed since Silverchair's smash single "Tomorrow" ruled alternative radio. Twelve years, in fact. Still, many rock fans are waiting for the three men from that Australian band — Daniel Johns, Chris Joannou, and Ben Gillies — to release another thunderous song like that one from Frogstomp.

What is amazing is that album was recorded when those guys were teenagers and yet still people expect a "Tomorrow, Part Two." Wisely, Silverchair has never rested on its laurels and each subsequent album after Frogstomp has showed a change in musical direction. The band's newest release, Young Modern, follows along with Silverchair's wanting to stretch musically and despite a few missteps here and there, it is a great addition to the band's canon.

Young Modern is the first new release for Silverchair in five years and the band embraces a more poppier sound with fantastic vocal melodies and orchestral movements. Yes, the grunge-like guitar rock of yesteryear is almost entirely gone. That is not to say this CD does not rock though. Tracks like the opening title track and "Mind Reader" show the band has not forgotten its past entirely.

Despite that, some of the best moments from Young Modern are the quirkier numbers which feature interesting orchestral flourishes which are led by Van Dyke Parks who is most known for his work with Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. "If You Keep Losing Sleep" and the three-suite "Those Thieving Birds" are must-listens that require repeated listens to reveal their ambitious charms.

Unfortunately, the last half of Young Modern does not measure up to its great beginning. "Waiting All Day" is a straight ahead pop number that is nice but forgettable and the closing "All Across the World" is just too strange to end the album on.

Overall, the release is a positive step forward for the ever-maturing Silverchair and special praise should go to singer Daniel Johns. Not only did he write most of the songs on Young Modern but his vocals are lively and impressive. He is best on the standout single "Straight Lines" which is the most commercial of the lot because of its prominent use of the piano but Johns gives it an edge that makes it more interesting than most everything else on rock radio today.