The band members-which, in addition to Aubert, include bassist Nikki Monninger, drummer Christopher Guanlao and keyboardist Joe Lester-were also in agreement with the album’s starting point (the urgent synth-rocker “Neon Wound”) and closer (the aggressive, throttling “We Are Chameleons”). Strident acoustic strumming tussles with raging electric riffs, as urgent, precise beats and moody electronic pulses percolate underneath. Their fifth album, Widow’s Weeds, also caters to an adventurous, patient group of listeners. Silversun Pickups have always considered their sonic density a source of pride: The Los Angeles band’s four studio full-lengths-including their 2006 gold-selling debut, Carnavas, which spawned the hits “Lazy Eye” and “Well Thought Out Twinkles”-reveal additional sonic gifts with each subsequent spin. “The gift that’s been given to me is that people view my music as enlivening them.”
“It’s an incredible feeling to be in a good rock band,” adds Jenkins.
(Third Eye Blind has offset the tour’s carbon footprint by donating a portion of each ticket sold to a US-based carbon offset project managed by ClimeCo.) The biggest tour in the band’s history will wrap August 3 in Irvine, CA with Jimmy Eat World and Ra Ra Riot. Going strong for over two decades, Third Eye Blind have broken their own attendance records with 2019’s Summer Gods tour. “We have always been so insular,” says Jenkins, “and on Screamer we adopted an open door policy - come in, be musical, and follow the song where it takes us.” “I seek to combine it with a percussive level of musical immediacy in this collection of songs to cultivate collective idealism and an unapologetic aspiration towards humanistic values.”
THIRD EYE BLIND THIRD EYE BLIND FULL
“My current mood resonates with rebellion, energy, courage, and risk,” says Stephan Jenkins, on Third Eye Blind’s sixth full length album, Screamer (October 18). The follow up to 2018’s EP Thanks for Everything, Screamer finds Third Eye Blind collaborating with Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells (“Screamer”), Ryan Olson of Marijuana Death Squad and Poliça (“Who Am I” and “Got So High”), and the album’s musical consigliere, Billy Corgan.