Have you ever experienced something that was pretty fun and enjoyable in the beginning, but the more the experience progresses you realize that while enjoyable, the fun is just sort of repeating itself over and over and that kind of takes away from the luster of that experience? No? Maybe? That’s what it felt like listening to The Smashing Pumpkins latest release, “CYR”, a pop synth fueled 20 track adventure driven by Billy Corgan’s urge to create and remain contemporary sound. Interviews surrounding the release of the album present the band’s reasoning for adopting a new sound as an attempt to flex their sound and course-correct their sound to appear more contemporary. The synth heavy sound is definitely a new direction and the Corgan produced album leans heavily into it. Perhaps the journey into new sound provides some insight on the repetitive sound on the album. Exploring new ground as an artist is a vulnerable venture and rather than explore or play with different sound themes, Corgin took the formula and applied it generally across the album. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, you just won’t find songs that stray too far from the pop sounds and rhythms on the album.

For some reason, the first 5 or 6 tracks are the highlight of the album, I attribute this to growing tired of the repetitive sound and less about the songs themselves. They aren’t necessarily bad, but they almost bring nothing new to the LP. There are only a handful of places you can stretch the synth pop sound and 20 tracks is more than enough to do a deep dive on the sound. I love it though. I catch myself singing along to “Ramona”, “Cyr”, and “Dulcet in E” with unbridled joy. And I think that’s the point. The album is a cool exploration in sound for The Smashing Pumpkins and an interesting innovation for a band that hasn’t released consecutive albums with the same band members since the early 90’s. There’s nostalgic joy knowing James Iha is back on guitar next to Corgan’s vocals. Sometimes when the familiar becomes unfamiliar, it’s a cool experience to take in the unfamiliar and process it until it is familiar again, and that’s where I find myself with this album. 6/10.

Standout Tracks:

“Cyr”

“Ramona”

“Dulcet in E”

"Wyttch" (Two Thoughts on this track: 1) It’s the heaviest rock track on the album with bass lines seemingly borrowed out of Justin Chancellor’s toolbox. And 2) It’s eerily reminiscent in sound to the polar opposite of synth pop….The Mars Volta track “Teflon” off of their 2009 LP Octahedron. Even the drum line and bass notes are similar. I fuckin love it.