Swoon (Silversun Pickups album)

Swoon is the second full-length studio album by Los Angeles alternative rock band Silversun Pickups, released through Dangerbird Records on 14 April 2009. The name of the album comes from a line in the outro of the first track "There's No Secrets This Year."

Swoon
Studio album by Silversun Pickups
Released	April 14, 2009
Recorded	July 2008 – February 2009
Studio	Sunset Sound, Sound Factory and Paramount Studios
Genre	Alternative rock[1] shoegaze[2]
Length	51:42
Label	Dangerbird
Producer	Dave Cooley
Silversun Pickups chronology
Remixes (2007) Swoon (2009) Neck of the Woods (2012)
Singles from Swoon
"Panic Switch" Released: March 17, 2009 "Substitution" Released: September 22, 2009 "The Royal We" Released: February 16, 2010

Background information

After completing their Carnavas/Pikul tour in Christmas 2007, the band took a break until February of the next year. They began recording in their own studio named The Dark. The album was produced by Dave Cooley, who had worked with the band on their first album, Carnavas. Recording was completed between July 2008 and February 2009. During the recording process the band laid down as many as 17 songs which were eventually cut down to 10 for the album. On February 17, the band posted a list of the songs expected to be on Swoon on their MySpace blog.^[3]

The album was released on April 14, 2009. The first single released was "Panic Switch".^[4] On April 6, the track "There's No Secrets This Year" was released as a single on various online music stores. The bonus track "Currency of Love" was released exclusively on iTunes with pre-orders in the U.S. and Canada, but was issued as a regular album track in other countries. The song "Ne Plus Ultra" was released as a B-Side on the single Panic Switch.

Two tracks off of the album, "Panic Switch" and "It's Nice to Know You Work Alone," have been released as downloadable content for Guitar Hero: World Tour as part of a track pack released on April 9.^[5] The song "Panic Switch" was also released along with "Sort Of" for the Rock Band series on March 2, 2010. "Panic Switch" was also included with the game Rocksmith. "There's No Secrets This Year" appears in racing game Dirt 2 and the rhythm game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. "It's Nice to Know You Work Alone" is also featured in the baseball game MLB 10: The Show.

Artwork

As with Carnavas, the album's packaging features the artwork of Darren Waterston, this time using his 2008 piece "St.Clair" as the basis for the cover art.^[6] The inside packing also features Waterston's pieces "Disembodiment" and "Reverberations." All paintings are from his collection entitled "The Flowering."

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	64/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
The A.V. Club	B[9]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[10]
The Guardian	[11]
Kerrang!	[12]
NME	9/10[13]
Pitchfork	5.3/10[14]
Rolling Stone	[15]
Spin	[16]
Sputnikmusic	[17]

Like Carnavas, Swoon received generally positive reviews from critics. It accumulated a score of 64 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 21 reviews.^[18] The album reached the seventh spot on the Billboard 200 with 43,000 copies sold in its first week, compared to "Carnavas", which peaked only at number 80 on the Billboard 200. As of May 2012, Swoon has sold 318,000 copies ^[19]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Silversun Pickups.^[20]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"There's No Secrets This Year"	5:33
2.	"The Royal We"	4:47
3.	"Growing Old Is Getting Old"	5:54
4.	"It's Nice to Know You Work Alone"	4:45
5.	"Panic Switch"	5:44
6.	"Draining"	4:55
7.	"Sort Of"	5:28
8.	"Substitution"	4:41
9.	"Catch and Release"	4:40
10.	"Surrounded (or Spiraling)"	4:45
Total length:		51:42

Vinyl track listing

Side A

No.	Title	Length
1.	"There's No Secrets This Year"	5:33
2.	"The Royal We"	4:47
Total length:		10:20

Side B

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Growing Old Is Getting Old"	5:54
2.	"It's Nice to Know You Work Alone"	4:45
Total length:		10:39

Side C

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Panic Switch"	5:44
2.	"Draining"	4:55
3.	"Sort Of"	5:28
Total length:		16:07

Side D

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Substitution"	4:41
2.	"Catch and Release"	4:40
3.	"Surrounded (or Spiraling)"	4:45
Total length:		14:06

B-sides

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Currency of Love" (iTunes bonus track)	5:30
2.	"Ne Plus Ultra" (Limited Edition Promo code download)	5:14
3.	"Seasick" (Seasick)	6:45
4.	"Broken Bottles" (Seasick)	3:43
5.	"Ribbons and Detours" (Seasick)	3:26
6.	"Devil's Cup" (The Singles Collection)	3:02
Total length:		27:40

Chart positions

Weekly charts Chart (2009) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[21] 14 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[22] 23 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] 90 UK Albums (OCC)[24] 107 US Billboard 200[25] 7 US Independent Albums (Billboard)[26] 1 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[27] 2

Year-end charts Chart (2009) Position US Billboard 200[28] 178 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[29] 45

Singles

Single	Chart (2009)	Peak position
"Panic Switch"	Canadian Hot 100	85[30]
	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	92[31]
	U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs	1[32]
	U.S. Billboard Rock Songs	4[33]
"Substitution"	U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs	17[32]
	U.S. Billboard Rock Songs	26[33]
Single	Chart (2010)	Peak
"The Royal We"	U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs	5[32]
	U.S. Billboard Rock Songs	22[33]

Personnel

Silversun Pickups

• Brian Aubert – guitar, vocals
• Nikki Monninger – bass, vocals
• Chris Guanlao – drums
• Joe Lester – keys

Production

• Produced by Dave Cooley
• Engineered by Steven Rhodes, Kristian Riley and Jason Gossman
• Mixed by Tony Hoffer and Jason Gossman
• Mastered by Stephen Marcussen
• String arrangements by Will Canzoneri

Art

• Cover art is from Darren Waterston's "St. Clair"
• Photos by Steve Gullick
• Layout by Sara Cumings

Tour

Swoon Tour

Concert by Silversun Pickups
Associated album	Swoon
Start date	17 March 2009
End date	9 October 2010
Legs	[N/A]
No. of shows	176 shows

Setlist

^{[34] [35]} Songs do eventually get change position in the setlist. For example, "Catch and Release" from the encore to the normal setlist, with "Three Seed" taking their place in the encore.

1. Growing Old Is Getting Old
2. Well Thought Out Twinkles
3. Panic Switch
4. There's No Secrets This Year
5. The Royal We
6. Little Lover's So Polite
7. It's Nice to Know You Work Alone (played on 30 April 2009, added after 4 June 2009)
8. Future Foe Scenarios
9. Kissing Families
10. Draining (played on 4 June 2009, 3 July 2009, 19 June 2010)
11. Sort Of (added after 20 March 2009)
12. Lazy Eye
13. Surrounded (or Spiraling) (played on 3, 12, 30 April 2009) [ENCORE]
14. Substitution [ENCORE]
15. Catch and Release (added after 4 June 2009) [ENCORE]
16. Booksmart Devil (played on 18 October 2009) [not in encore, but played after Catch and Release, which wasn't in the encore on 18 October 2009]
17. Three Seed (added after 20 June 2010) [ENCORE]
18. Rusted Wheel (occasionally played from April to June 2009, added on 2 July 2009, dropped after 10 December 2009, played on 15, 18 June 2010) [ENCORE]
19. Creation Lake (occasionally played from July 2009 to June 2010) [ENCORE]
20. Common Reactor [ENCORE]

References

1. "Review: Silversun Pickups, Swoon". Slant Magazine. 18 April 2009.
2. Pelone, Joe (May 8, 2009). "Silversun Pickups - Swoon". Punknews.org.
3. "Swoon track listing on Silversun Pickups' MySpace Blog". MySpace. February 17, 2009. Archived from the original on February 24, 2009. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
4. "Silversun Pickups Swoon Album Details". Archived from the original on February 15, 2009. Retrieved February 15, 2009.
5. Silversun Pickups Wrap Up Second LP Artist Direct
6. "DarrenWaterston.com". Archived from the original on February 20, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
7. "Swoon by Silversun Pickups Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
8. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Swoon > Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
9. Ryan, Kyle. "Silversun Pickups: Swoon". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
10. Greenblatt, Leah. "Swoon". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
11. Hann, Michael (April 10, 2009). "Silversun Pickups: Swoon (Warner Bros)". The Guardian. London. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
12. Griffiths, Mark (March 2010), "Silversun Pickups: Swoon (Dangerbird). LA four-piece deliver stunning second album", Kerrang!, no. 1250, p. 49, ISSN 1740-9977
13. Cashmore, Pete. "Album review: Silversun Pickups - Swoon". NME. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
14. Cohen, Ian. "Silversun Pickups: Swoon". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
15. Fricke, David. "Silversun Pickups". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2009-04-21. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
16. Wood, Mikael. "Silversun Pickups, 'Swoon' (Dangerbird) Buzz band's melancholy reaches infinite sadness". Spin. Retrieved March 22, 2009.
17. Stagno, Mike. "Silversun Pickups: Swoon". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
18. "Swoon reviews at Metacritic.com". Metacritic. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
19. "Upcoming Releases". Archived from the original on 2013-12-07. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
20. "Swoon". www.silversunpickups.com. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
21. "Australiancharts.com – Silversun Pickups – Swoon". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
22. "Silversun Pickups Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
23. "Offiziellecharts.de – Silversun Pickups – Swoon" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
24. Chart Log UK (2009) Week 16 Zobbel. Retrieved on April 26, 2009.
25. "Silversun Pickups Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
26. "Silversun Pickups Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
27. "Silversun Pickups Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
28. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
29. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
30. "Silversun Pickups Chart History - Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved on October 3, 2009.
31. Silversun Pickups Chart History - Hot 100. Billboard. Retrieved on October 3, 2009.
32. "Silversun Pickups Chart History - Alternative Songs". Billboard. Retrieved on October 3, 2009.
33. "Silversun Pickups Chart History - Rock Songs". Billboard. Retrieved on October 3, 2009.
34. "Silversun Pickups Average Setlists of tour: Swoon | setlist.fm". setlist.fm.
35. "Silversun Pickups Tour Statistics: Swoon | setlist.fm". setlist.fm.