San Francisco psych-gaze group, Silent Pictures are debuting their sophomore LP, Let it Begin. A mix of beachy reverb-jangle, big choruses, swirling strings and more, the full album serves as an excellent demonstration of the group’s wide-spanning expertise and experience. 15 July 2016 The Deli Magazine SFBay Area band Silent Pictures bring the aural picture show of Let It Begin available today. Operating on a cinematic core, Alexander Mann applies his dream pop know-how upwards to some of his most remarkable and realized work to date where the entire auteur-soundtrack experience side-winds through the title cut, “Twisted Smiles”, “Behind The Scenes”, before boomeranging around the bend with the ethereal might of “Come Around”, among other big stage stealing numbers. 15 July 2016 Impose MagazineNot only is Let It Begin an alternative psych-gaze journey, it’s a great showcase for both the bands songwriting and musicianship. With a sound that could so easily be misinterpreted, Silent Pictures create a warm bubble around their music, giving it a sense of stability and control. By combining the elements of shoe gaze and psychedelia, they’ve managed to create an experience. One that’s definitely worth having again and again. 4\5 July 2016 Vulture Hound UKThe sound coming out of Silent Pictures is less a formidable wall and more a shifting dune of sand, all-enveloping and immersive but also weary and accommodating. It’s new music, for sure, but it’s also rooted in the sounds of 40 or 50 years ago, when no matter how fancy the analogue recording equipment, you couldn’t beat the sound coming out of a garage. Let It Begin boasts an impressive resume of producers and engineers, almost all involved with some aspect of offbeat alternative rock through the decades, and as such the music has got snatches of everything—straight psychedelic rock is the name of the game, but there’s some art-pop, some disco, some country twang. In other words, it’s the kind of purportedly vintage music which is somewhat disingenuous in a good way: it sounds older, but it couldn’t have been made without the stylistic changes of the past 20 years. If this record shows anything, it’s that old and new can coexist happily, each benefiting from the other.22 June 2016 PopmattersThe band got an impressive list of people to help mix the album, including Creation Records co-founder Joe Foster, veteran producer Dave Schiffman (BRMC, Cass McCombs, Dandy Warhols), John Fryer(Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil), and Brian Jonestown Massacre original member Ricky Maymi who mixed “Behind The Scenes.”There is definitely a little Go-Betweens (Robert Forster in particular) in “Behind the Scenes.”26 May 2016 Brooklyn VeganWith a sound that's as moody and melodic as the Bay Area itself, Silent Pictures are set to unveil their latest album, Let It Begin, to the masses. The album was recorded over parts of 2014 and 2015, and the tracks found their way across the globe to be mixed and mastered. We're excited to premiere the stream of this terrific album in full today. There's plenty of great tunes to jam to, and you should do so by leaping in above.12 July 2016 PureVolume‘Let It Begin’ drifts from ethereal glam rock to noisy psychedelic shoegaze to pure Britpop, an indication of the wide-ranging experience of the musicians that make up Silent Pictures. The skill level allows for the record to float between genres seamlessly, unable to stick to one certain genre, or even stay under the “psych” umbrella. Certainly Brian Jonestown Massacre comes to mind, as member Ricky Maymi had a hand in production, yet it’s easy to compare tracks like Twisted Smile to Britpop trailblazers like the Jesus and Mary Chain and the Stone Roses. Not to be nailed down to one era either, Silent Pictures could be perfectly in line on a bill with more modern bands like Allah Lahs or Kevin Morby.27 May 2016 Culture AddictsBay Area psych-gazers Silent Pictures are serving up their big Brit-pop follow up to their first single with the new track “Twisted Smiles,” debuted via PopMatters. Sounding like an extra cut off of The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Darklands, “Twisted Smiles” opens the group up to big chords and big choruses, with dreamy, lulled vocals anchored by a concrete bassline. 22 June 2016 With Guitars...some elements of psych and dreamy brit pop mixed in nicely. 23 June 2016 Austin Town HallA scintillating band that bring a rock n’ roll with exceptionally special music efforts of ‘jangling and spangling’ shoegaze riff sky magics, ‘swarming and warming’ vocal sways, ‘flowing and glowing’ keyboard/synthesizer rainbows alongside snappy rhythm actions that brings a ‘stomping and romping’ steady music bounce groove. They truly exhilarated my ear rock modules with a rock n’ roll diversity that involves huge genre catalogue inclusions of post-punk era know how, psychedelic shoegaze rock orbitings, full Brit-pop thrilling harmonies and cosmically rocking experimental rock superbs, ‘class atmospheric rock band’. 5 February 2016 Forkster RocksSilent Pictures,"Let It Begin" (Green Fuse). California psych-rock quartet has traveled to Glasgow, Oslo and Los Angeles to record and mix its second long-player, which stays crunchy in the speakers and finds the trippiness in its analog-heavy proceedings without fetishizing the older tech.14 July 2016 Milwaukee Journal SentinelLet It Begin is like a visually beautiful portrait of sadness, confusion, and loneliness. Literally, every song feels like an episode in the mind of a broken woman and man. You see through each set of eyes the desperate yearning for love (Dying For You), the eagerness to call out fakery (Twisted Smiles), and the need to overcome past, darkened occurrences (Bad Experiences). Hence, lyrics come out to you like a series of thoughts rushing at you till you feel like they are your own. In a way, Let It Begin reminds me of the film Being John Malkovich. You enter these persons' world and feel their emotions and thoughts as if you were embodying them which, for those looking for rich, music experiences, will be fascinated at this very mental trip into music.15 July 2016 Diandra Reviews It All“Part performance art, part post alternative dance pop, meets short film, San Francisco based Silent Pictures fuses art with music and their live shows consist of each song being performed to short films where they take their fans on a moody experience through sight and sound.” “ Call them different, maybe adventurous even, but in a world of copy cats, it’s nice to see some originality in their musical style and shows.” - BAY FASHION MAGAZINE"Silent Pictures put on a great show channeling the sounds of Joy Division, Roxy Music, Japan and The Smiths with their own unique twist." - DARK BEAUTY MAGAZINEAlexander Mann started playing music in 1989 and has played a lot since then. He's been in Mellow Drunk, Boyskout, Your Precious You and, more recently, Silent Pictures, which is his project. Musically, Silent Pictures pulls heavily from shoegaze bands, such as My Bloody Valentine. But they also perform some Roxy Music glam-ballads, upbeat jangle-pop and even toss a few dance beats in the mix. What makes Silent Pictures interesting (And Mann enigmatic) is the degree to which he subverts attention away from himself as a performer, which he does in part by projecting videos during his performances. The eerie, moodiness of the music is thoroughly captivating. -THE METROI have been aware of them for some time - and they obviously have an affection for Louise Brooks, Clara Bow and silent film. If you are into Joy Division, Pale Saints, The Magnetic Fields, Wire, Television, Roxy Music, The Church, New Order, Air, Love and Rockets, Bryan Ferry, The Go-Betweens, Cocteau Twins, Brian Eno, Galaxie 500, Luna, Supergrass, Trashcan Sinatras, Tom Verlaine, Japan, Jesus and Mary Chain, The Kinks, Kraftwerk, XTC, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, The Stooges, The Smiths, Pavement, Pixies, Syd Barret of Clan of Xymox (another band with a love of Lulu), then you are sure to appreciate Silent Pictures. More about them at http://thesilentpictures.com-Thomas Gladysz Louise Brooks SocietyNov.7th 2010