The last time I listened to Silverchair was at a New Years party in late 1999, and I was singing along to "Anthem for the Year 2000" (from Neon Ballroom) with my friends). I caught the album's other single, "Ana's Song," about singer/guitarist/composer Daniel Johns' battle with anorexia induced by anxiety, but after the ball had dropped, the streamers had cleared, and Y2K had faded into memory, I let Silverchair recess back into the land down under (where they have more top twenty hits in the last decade than any other band). Young Modern, Silverchair's newest effort, is the first major push they've had in America since the 90s, and so far it seems successful. I've already heard the album's first single, "Waiting All Day," on the radio, right where it belongs.

When Silverchair is at their best, they're good, when they're at their worst they're bland. When they get experimental with the instrumentation, they're at their peak. Many of the songs on Young Modern showcase Silverchair at their most experimental. The seven-minute opus, "Those Thieving Birds (Part 1) / Strange Behavior / Those Thieving Birds (Part 2)," is a concept song, and one of the album's best. It begins with a sliding guitar melody that would usually feel more comfortable on acoustic, but sounds perfectly at home on Johns' electric. After a warm, introspective opener, with violins twittering in the background, the song breaks into the Strange Behavior portion, which has three or four competing, compulsive melodies, each outdoing the others in originality. Johns' belts "When I'm paranoid / I see walls behind walls behind walls," over adamant, pulsing drums, then goes into a break with high, sharp guitars and the inexplicable lyrics: "Only eat with uncles / Never talk to strangers / God is the kitchen / Faking baby dangers." John glides seamlessly back into "Those Thieving Birds (Part 2)," where the original melodies sound like recurring refrains from a musical.

Johns' two songs about sleep, "If You Keep Losing Sleep" and "Insomnia" are also album highlights. "If You Keep Losing Sleep" has perhaps the most imaginative intro, with piano melodies pounding like percussion, and a chorus of kazoos preceding the entrance of the guitars. Again, these songs are high points because of the extras tossed in: the violins, the xylophone, the marching-band style drums.

However, there are a few pitfalls that Silverchair cannot seem to overcome. Johns has a beautiful, expressive voice, but it's a little bit musically uninteresting, a little bit bland. Also, a great deal depends on their enthusiasm and energy, and when those things patter out, like in "Reflections of a Sound" and even "Waiting All Day" in some places, the music becomes dull and uninteresting.

I'm glad Silverchair has made another trip across the Pacific; I just hope the album is able to hold itself up and make sure their trip is worthwhile.