A sense of urgency drives Silversun Pickups. The GRAMMY® Award-nominated Los Angeles quartet create and perform with eloquence and intensity all at once. They throw caution to the wind, but they do so with panache. Guitars may restlessly roar and rumble, only to be reined in by the spell of a saccharine melody or a honeyed hook. This push-and-pull has catapulted the group—Brian Aubert [vocals, guitar], Nikki Monninger [bass, vocals], Christopher Guanlao [drums], and Joe Lester [keys]—out of a crowded and competitive local scene and into the wide open space of some of the world’s biggest stages buoyed by Top 10 albums, Platinum success, and tastemaker acclaim. As such, they’ve thrived as one of this century’s most consistent and quietly impactful rock bands.

Now, Silversun Pickups meet the moment with their seventh full-length LP, Tenterhooks [New Machine Recordings]. It’s an anxious, emotionally charged, and unapologetic collection of ten tracks appropriate for the times, yet as timeless as anything they’ve done.

“We wanted to make a tight record that could fit on one vinyl with five songs on each side,” says Aubert. “To me, it’s an impatient, apprehensive, and more aggressive album. We started recording when the world was changing again. You invariably wonder, ‘What are we headed towards?’ Even if you’re not necessarily writing about it, it bleeds into how you’re feeling and approaching life. We stripped things down and went louder and rawer.”

Silversun Pickups had finished touring in 2024 and enjoyed a rare break. During the downtime, Aubert saved voice memos, riffs, and other ideas as they came to him. Before he knew it, he found himself back in the studio with his bandmates and longtime producer Butch Vig [Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage]. After two records together, they had perfected a real-time exchange of ideas. The musicians grabbed their instruments and jammed live as the producer listened and recorded. The album took shape seamlessly, but life intervened. Butch had commitments on the road with Garbage, taking him away from the studio. However, Aubert went through one of the worst nightmares imaginable for any artist: he lost hearing in one ear. During a seven-day stay in the hospital, he even received a blood transfusion.

“I had a hole in my ear drum,” he recalls. “They couldn’t figure out why I was losing blood, so they gave me the transfusion. We found out there was a rupture in my stomach lining due to the ibuprofen I was taking for the pain. That’s why I had been losing blood. One day, I was finally hearing again.”

Eventually, the band regrouped with Vig and concluded the sessions. The title referenced the phrase, “On Tenterhooks.”

“There was something in the air,” he observes. “It seemed as if everyone was on Tenterhooks waiting for whatever was next. The music has the same feeling.”

The first single “The Wreckage” evokes this energy. Harmonics encircle a loose bassline as it winds around the punchy beat. Aubert’s reminder, “Well you get what you give, nothing more,” slips into the undertow of grainy distorted riffing. The track spirals out through phaser-drenched six-string transmissions and a sparse piano outro.

“I saw it as a ‘bass song’ in the vein of The Cure or Jane’s Addiction,” he recalls. “I wanted Nikki to have a signature bassline. I played it for her, she played along, and I began singing. The big guitars and the piano give it space to breathe. The lyric, ‘You get what you give’, is so true. You meet people and you live in a world that reflects what you put in.”

“Au Revoir Reservoir” revolves around a snappy groove, ethereal keys, off-kilter horns, and a lush vocal from Monninger. She exhales a plea, “Help me outside.” As the rhythm tosses and turns, Aubert’s spacey tremolo-picked lead screeches.

“There was already a lot of aggression and loudness, so we thought it would be cool to paint with some other paints,” he says. “I’m glad ‘Au Revoir Reservoir’ is on the record. It opens everything up a little more. It’s a different color.”

Then, there’s “Long Gone.” Frantically strummed acoustic chords rush ahead at the pace of a late-night escape. Strings echo in the distance, and Aubert assures, “I’ll be long gone before we break it.”

“I wanted to do an acoustic song, but not a ‘slow song’,” he reveals. “It had to be really kicking, and I was thinking of Johnny Marr or a Western-style Ennio Morricone vibe. The sentiment is, ‘Don’t worry. This isn’t going to end badly because I’ll be gone before that’. I’m not necessarily speaking about an event. I’m speaking about an inherent emotion, and it feels very melancholic and beautiful.”

The opener “New Wave” alternates between heavenly and hard-hitting. A massive palm-muted riff carries the harmony on the chorus. Its sublime chug dissolves in the wake of an evocative solo soaked in reverb.

“It was the first song we recorded, and it set the template,” he notes. “I used to be in love with huge guitar swells, and I’ve fallen back in love with them—just in my older brain. ‘New Wave’ is a reference to feeling like, ‘This thing is going to hit me’. You’re either going to get in the ocean or lay in the sand. It’s not even up to you. You’re not sure when it’s going to happen, but it’s going to happen. How do you prepare for it?”

The finale “Hot-Wired” offers a fitting bookend. Feedback cackles and buzzes, increasing the voltage with kinetic synths. Brian’s final statement, “Pull hot wires accelerate. Go full throttle disintegrate,” burns out in glorious fashion akin a shooting star. “It’s the closing credits moment,” he adds. “It ends quick like it started. We’re done, but we’re not going out sad. We’re still talking about things, but there’s optimism.”

Tenterhooks represents both a full circle moment and a natural step forward for Aubert and Co. Around the turn of the century, Silversun Pickups made their bones on the East Side of Los Angeles with countless gigs, honing an inimitable style by playing nonstop. Their full-length debut, Carnavas [2006], went Gold and spawned the Platinum staple “Lazy Eye.” On its heels, they logged two back-to-back Top 10 entries on the Billboard 200 with Swoon [2009]—featuring the Gold-certified “Panic Switch”—and Neck of the Woods [2012]. Coursing through culture, they have landed dozens of film and television placements, ranging from the cult classic Jennifer’s Body to NETFLIX’s The Lincoln Lawyer. They’ve held their own on tours with the likes of Foo Fighters and Muse, sold out successive headline jaunts, and performed on late-night television shows such as Jimmy Kimmel LIVE! Moreover, they have incited widespread critical applause. Pitchfork hailed 2022’s Physical Thrills as “their most varied and carefree songs in over a decade,” and Consequence marveled at how, “the new LP sees the veteran quartet finding new avenues to push the envelope within their well-established sound.”

In the end, Silversun Pickups sound as urgent and undeniable as ever on Tenterhooks.

“We’ve been a band for 25 years,” he leaves off. “I never would’ve imagined we would’ve been able to do this for so long. Somehow, we’re here. I’m thrilled we’re a band that people still find. When you listen to us, I hope you feel like after all of these years we still give a shit.”