Back in March, during my annual trek out to the SXSW Music conference, I managed to see Silversun Pickups twice, including a slot opening for Metallica at the "secret" show that my buddy from Activision snuck me into. Silversun were good in Austin, but not as completely, utterly ON as the night I saw them in San Francisco, where they were so amazing that you could literally feel a somewhat bored, early crowd perk up and instantly become fans. It was shocking, actually, a spike of energy I don't often feel at live shows. Don't dismiss Silversun as LA hipsters or Pumpkin-biters, they've got their own sound going on. The fact that they can make all that noise happen with a single guitar on stage is pretty damn impressive, too. This video from Swoon features hot girls playing musical chairs, so watch it for the ladies, if nothing else.