Hey there! Does anyone know of any bands that sound very similiar to Silver Sun? Ever since I became a SS addict back in '96, I've always been on the lookout for other bands with great harmonies. I've never found any even near the quality of SS (although they will never be beaten!). I know the popular ones like Teenage Fanclub, Ok Go, The Wildhearts, Cheap Trick etc. Like yourselves, I just can't get enough of sugary sweet multi-harmonies and great guitar rifts. Anyone got any recommendations?

so i can only recommend bands that sound like silver sun?...

umm....

queen is the closest. they rock! try the darkness for riffs, beach boys for harmonies (if you're a bit sad like me), and the cure (only the greatest hits though. trust me) for the many instrumented wall of sound, esp mint car, inbetween days, friday i'm in love etc.)

i know what you mean, though, nothing is quite like it.

If you're OK with a punk answer to Silver Sun, you could do a lot worse than checking out No Use For A Name. Their song 'Let Me Down' would be a damn good place to start, it's loaded with harmonies.

Actually, I could go through a short list

No Use For A Name (punk rock with vocal harmonies)
Easyworld (altogether brilliant indie-rock band)
Mo-ho-bish-o-pi (Welsh indie band, now split, released one fantastic album)
Weezer (obviously need no introduction)
All-American Rejects (say what you like about them, I think they're fantastic)

Here's a quick list of the top of my head...

The Wildhearts - No need for an introduction B)

Honeycrack - A fantastic band while they lasted. Formed by CJ and Willie of Wildhearts fame. Think, Wildhearts + Silver Sun + Beatles. Had fantastic vocal harmonies and THREE guitarists!

Fountains Of Wayne - Very good band. Their second album Utopia Parkway is the most immediate and Silver Sun-like.

Jellyfish - ABSOLUTE LEGENDS! Along with Redd Kross, I think they pioneered the whole catchy tune, guitars and vocal harmonies formula. I would be very surprised if Silver Sun did not own any Jellyfish records.

Imperial Drag - Track down a copy of their 1996 debut of the same name. You will not be disappointed! Sadly they split up after their first album. These guys were put together by Jellyfish mainman Roger Manning. Easily as good as Silver Sun. You can check out Mannings new band Tv Eyes at: http://tveyes.net/

Umajets - A couple of Jellyfish ex-members. Great debut album and an acousticy follow-up. Not sure if they're still around...

Baby Chaos/Deckard - Fantastic band. Very much like The Wildhearts but a bit more like The Pixies rather than The Clash (if that makes any sense...). Track down a copy of their 1996 album, Love Your Self Abuse. It will sit very nicely next to your Wildhearts stuff (you can get it from amazon.co.uk). Baby Chaos went awol for several years and regenerated as Deckard. Download this MP3: http://www.mangomultimedia.co.uk/deckard/a...of-dynamite.mp3
It's gooood for you :P

Urusei Yatsura - Very cool band. Quite lo-fi and indie-ish. Get yourself a copy of their second album Slain. Great stuff.

Redd Kross - UTTER LEGENDS! If Silver Sun are like The Beach Boys, Redd Kross are like The Beatles. Every bit as good as Silver Sun! Get yourself a copy of their album Phaseshifter, that's a very good place to start. The Wildhearts and a lot of other bands really revere Redd Kross, they're a very influential band. A bit like how Silver Sun should turn out with any luck...

3 Colors Red - Another good band that have a Wildhearts link. You probably know them already. Recently reformed Silver Sun stylee.

The Ga Ga's - Quite new band. Their debut single Breaking America is very good. Their bassist Toshi played a couple of shows with The Wildhearts. You can go to the audio section of: http://www.thegagas.com/ and download an MP3 of Breaking America.

Good Charlotte - Sorry I tell a lie they are utter arse :lol:

Trying to think what I can add to the list. Hmmm...

The first (and only?) two Aerial singles, if you can find them.

Stuff by the B-Movie Heroes and the Yo-Yos (although these are more similar to 3 Colours Red)

The Samurai Seven - probably the closest of any of the bands here to the Silver Sun sound. I can recommend their album 'Le Sport' to anyone.

SugarPlumFairies/ The Celebrity Squares - the same band, who released the album 'Fruit Karma' under the first name and will release a new album under the new name early next year.

Arlo - grab a copy of 'Stab The Unstoppable Hero'

Early Ooberman records such as the first Shorley Wall EP.

... and keep an eye out for The Futureheads whilst you're at it. Those are all I can think of off the top my head, I'll add more if I remember them.

The Muffs - a band recomended by JB himself - a bit more punky/noisy but they have some similarly styled guitar riffs and some harmonies.

Wheatus are ok and sorta similar i guess.

That's all i can think of for now.. <_<

Thanks everyone for the recommendations! Wow, a lot more than I thought! Well, at least I 've got something to keep me occupied until the new SS material arrives! Better get searching...cheers! :D

oh, a list all the bands you like page?

the cure, the damned, the clash, the tubes (remote control l.p rocks) television ummm... the darkness, red hot chilli peppers, silver sun, the descendants...

all i can think of right now.

Has anyone mentioned Cosmic Rough Riders yet?

Cosmic Rough Riders. There y'go...

im with thelazyboy. there are alot of good american punk acts (real ones, not the ones that end in 182). but i'd say they're more like college rock.

midtown - great harmonies, fists in the air rock style stuff. get 'living well is the best revenge' not the first album 'save the world lose the girl' cos its bettter produced. it s in my top five behind silver sun and london calling

sugarcult - see above, though slightly more punkier and less harmonies

fuzzbuble - the first rock band signed to puff daddys badboy record label, but then he forgot about them so they left it and now they're great.

am radio - if u like weezer (and probably hence SS) rivers cuomo is manager of them

rooney - a new band being compared to weezer but are more rock n roll style, good beach boy harmonies.

and dont forget farrah - second album out soon (maybe now) which is great power pop. (and they're english)

alex

Farrah
Snug

Bowling For Soup

(I know at least one person on here disagrees violently with this one, but trust me)

Here are some more power-glam cds. They feature thick guitar chords and harmonies ala Silver Sun. BTW - The Redd Kross tip was right on the money.

Copperpot - "Nothing Lasts Forever"
The Merrymakers - "No Sleep 'Til Famous"
Semantics - "Powerbill" (featuring Zak Starkey, Millard Powers and Owsley)
Thin Lizard Dawn - s/t and "Go"
The Yum Yums - "Blame It On The Boogie"
Teen Machine - "After School Special" (They share members with Fuzzbubble)
Fire Apes - "A Fine Day For Bananafish"
Second Saturday - "Here's the Deal"

Mike

Cannot champion the mighty Fountains of Wayne enough. They have certainly earned the right to sit alongside Silversun in the heady world of power-pop (new album out in a couple of weeks).
Going back a bit, I would also suggest The Buzzcocks ... or is that a bit too old. :unsure:

Also The Undertones. B) Is 'Teenage Kicks' still John Peel's favourite ever single?

Yes it is. And to the person that was talking about the Fountains of Wayne album release in a couple of weeks, why wait? Go to www.play.com and get it now!

I'm pretty sure it is ... crying in a lay-by (or so the story goes)

You could try Tsar who are pretty much a carbon copy of Silver Sun, the track Silver Shifter got a lot of Xfm airplay a fewyears back.

If you fancy some old school action try The Raspberries. Bit less "metal" than Silver Sun but great harmonies.

I'd like to add two bands to this if I may.

Greenberry woods...albums, Rapple Dapple and Big money item

Splitsville, this was the band formed after the demise of Greenberry Woods, albums, Splitsville USA, The Complete Pet Sounds (Very beach boy-esque as the tile suggests) Ultrasound and Repeater.
I think that you will plenty of songs in this bands catologue that will give you the fix you are looking for...I promise!!!!

Other bands worth a mention are:

Myracle Brah
The Vandalias
Gigolo Aunts
The Wondermints
Nada Surf (reminded me no end of SS when I saw them, more image than sound but it is all there reall)
Orange Humble Band
Ken Stringfellow
Wilco
Young Fresh Fellows
The Shazam (definately check these out)
The Mayflies USA

Hope you find something there you think is comparible, I am sure that you will, satisfaction guaranteed or your money back...oh thats the shaver isn't it...want one?

One I forgot earlier - Mover's first album (called 'Mover' - avoid the second one 'Fly Casual')

Nah, the second one is fine. Not as good as the first, I grant you.

Ah, may have to check it out then. I bought the 5 track 'Transit' EP, which includes two tracks from the album, and decided that if these represented the best of the record, I could live without it. Oops.

Apologies in advance if you decide it was a waste of money.

Beach Boys an influence on 'S S'?

Gigolo Aunts? Bloody hell, there's a blast from the past!

I'm off to locate some of their stuff, I've not heard them for ages!

The Gigolo Aunts latest album, Pacific Ocean Blues is particularly well worth checking out.

Fountains of Wayne are a definite, their first 2 albums, and Stacy's Mom off the new one have to be heard!

You'll all love SUPERDRAG. Rather a claim but it must be true, they are responsible for 3 of the best albums of the 90s - "Regretfully Yours" ('96), "Head Trip In Every Key" ('98) and "In The Valley Of Dying Stars" (2000). The first album is probably the most consistent but the 2nd & 3rd have the best tunes - check out the likes of Keep It Close To Me, Gimme Animosity, Do The Vampire and The Art Of Dying to see what I mean. "In The Valley..." is £7.99 from Amazon so a complete bargain for such a class album...

I know Dav Ford of Easyworld cites Silver Sun as a major influence, I agree on Honeycrack (the b-side "Gun" being one of their best). Before I started to write this I had a big list in my head but now that's disappeared. I'm going to have a busy time checking out some of the bands on this list myself...

Oh, and don't of course forget the chunky riffs of Feeder's first 2 albums "Polythene" and "Yesterday Went Too Soon".

er, 2000 wasn't actually in the 90s was it?
The Wannadies are another band worth checking out, don't exactly sound the same as SS, but not a million miles away. they've actually just released a new album, but i haven't heard anything from it, so couldn't tell you whether its any good or not. their other 3 albums are all good though - Be A Girl, Bagsy Me and Yeah

I'll second that. Their new album 'Before and After' was a bit underwhelming at first, but it has grown on me. It's a lot more laid back than their old stuff.

It's just a shame that Radio 1 helped to stiff their career in this country by playing nothing after 'You And Me Song' - to this day, if they want to play something by them, that's the one you'll hear. 'New music promoters' my backside...

'Hit' was always one of my favourites

Just thought of a couple more - Astrid and The Webb Brothers. Both albums by both bands are well worth your time and The Webb Brothers have a third out any day now.

Stellastarr* are worth a shot too, if you can handle Shawn's peculiar vocal style.

I saw Astrid a couple of times in quick succession a few years ago and thought they were boring. But I saw The Webb Brothers for the first time the other night and they were pretty good. They (all but one) wore matching suits and sang in harmony, which was most pleasing.