The sophomore jinx is talked about in all walks of life, including sports 
and with musicians. Fans and record company executives wondered aloud about 
this jinx hitting the Australian band silverchair, especially when the 
debut album (Frogstomp) has gone multiplatinum. silverchair seemed 
relaxed about the whole thing as no doubt befits a teenage trio of Aussies 
with a love of surfing and music. Anxiety seems to have been out of place. 
Let's get the age/style issue out on the table. Band members Daniel Johns 
(vocals, guitar), Chris Joannou (bass) and Ben Gillis (drums) are 17 years 
old. And, yes, when Frogstomp came out, they were 15, and their mothers 
accompanied them on their world tour. Frogstomp's music was taped by the 
band and handed over to Epic, and silverchair did not participate in any of 
the post taping work. Now the band members are 17, and this tour the moms 
are home in Australia. They aren't hardened rockers yet, and the young 
girls love them. With Freak Show, silverchair does much of what it did on 
Frogstomp, and that's grunge, Seattle-style. In the new album there are 
forays into other areas - a little diversity in the music, a little punk 
("Lie to Me"), and even a quiet ballad ("Cemetery").
silverchair would like to establish themselves as something other than Pearl 
Jam or Nirvana clones. Lead singer Johns bears a superficial resemblance to 
Kurt Cobain. The sound, his looks, the trio aspect brings out the taunts of 
"Nirvana in Diapers" and "Kinder(Sound)garden". The band hopes this album 
will take them a step away from all that. Unfortunately for this goal, with 
the large amount of grunge on the album, and Johns can really sound like 
Cobain making the listener wonder who's zooming who.
Computer-savvy fans will be happy to learn that Freak Show is a CD extra 
with free multimedia that can be seen and heard on certain computers. The 
video is crystal clear as is the audio. The entire multimedia show is 
themed on a freak show which seems to be what the band feels like on tour.
Freak Show is an absolute must for silverchair fans who will love the 
multimedia show if they have computers. The music is not too far afield 
from the debut album so it won't shock those who learned to love them with 
Frogstomp. But, if you turned up your nose at Frogstomp, you won't find 
enough advancement here to win you over. That sophomore jinx, you know.... 

[Thanx To Rachel For The Transcript]