The indie act, whose sound has evolved and deepened, delivers highly charged modern guitar rock.

Not every rock act needs to change to play the big rooms. At the Greek Theatre on Friday, the Silversun Pickups looked as they always have, lost in a swirl of melody and noise, ecstatically doubled over their instruments on a stage barely decorated with a big sheet and flashing lights. None of it would have been out of place at their earliest shows at Spaceland or the Silverlake Lounge.

The band's fuzzy, explosive indie rock benefits from that direct approach, as hooks collide with sudden bursts of feedback, more My Bloody Valentine than pure pop. It was 90 minutes of highly charged modern guitar rock, ready for radio but too crisp to be called grunge, delivering relentless flash and spark over the rumbling bass lines of Nikki Monninger.

"Please excuse the glee that is … coming out of our pores," singer-guitarist Brian Aubert said early in the set, grinning at the huge hometown crowd. "We're a little excited."

It's a sentiment Aubert has voiced at other tour stops this summer, acknowledging the Pickups' accelerating rise from clubs to amphitheaters, though his band showed itself ready for the biggest spaces as early as a 2007 main-stage appearance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The distinctive Pickups sound is one-size-fits-all, even as it evolved and deepened with last year's ambitious "Swoon" album.

Early in the set, "Well Thought Out Twinkles" nearly came apart in spasms of chaos, as drummer Christopher Guanlao moved in perpetual circular motion, a perfect storm of beats. For "Little Lover's So Polite," Aubert's electric, joyful rasp was equal parts Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies and Lindsey Buckingham, and Monninger was cheered by fans during her soft, romantic vocal turn: "It's always the same way for me / Ending in the same way."

The category: Best new artist

The field at a glance: Historically, best new artist has been one of the more puzzling Grammy categories. Just last year the Jonas Brothers contended for the prize despite having had a top-10 album in prior Grammy eligibility years. This year for late-blooming Grammy voters, Silver Lake's the Silversun Pickups are the artists of choice, having had their biggest hit single back in 2007 with "Lazy Eye." 

Easy jabs aside, best new artist remains one of the more exciting Grammy categories. Its range of artists is diverse -- this year all major pop genres but hip-hop are represented -- and expect it to be the only televised category on Jan. 31 with some non-household names. 

The biggest brands in this year's crop come from country and R&B. Producer/artist Keri Hilson went into 2009 as one of the year's most talked-about artists and had a top-10 debut with "In a Perfect World..." She's a singer who puts the rhythm first and can comfortably handle the type of backdrops seemingly more fit for a rapper. Meanwhile, the easy-going country boys of the Zac Brown Band have been quietly consistent -- their first major label album "The Foundation" is still in the top-30 after 60 weeks on the chart. 

The Silversun Pickups took a step up with its sophomore effort "Swoon," an album that proudly recalls the mid-'90s era of alterna-rock. English pop duo the Ting Tings were a breakout act at South by Southwest in 2008 and are still riding the success of snappy electro-rock singles "That's Not My Name" and "Great DJ." 

Brooklyn synth duo MGMT represents a somewhat surprising choice by Grammy voters, an underground band with an adventurous bent. MGMT should have been in the running a year ago, but then the act was still somewhat of an indie buzz band to Grammy voters. The success of "Kids" -- a sour, midtempo single -- changed that, and put MGMT and its danceable keyboard textures on the Grammys' radar. 

KROQ's annual Weenie Roast bash typically reflects the core tenets of the radio station's musical ethos: The '90s were alternative rock's Gilded Age, skate punk moonlights as pop music and L.A. produces one good local band every year.

But this year's event, held Saturday at Irvine's Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, showed a surprising bit of daring from the station's tastemakers, who let the toothsome dance hall punks Rancid carry the headlining slot. No Wave weirdos Yeah Yeah Yeahs delivered a strong turn, and several young L.A. bands made the case that our local indie scene still snowballs into the nation's mainstream rock.

Excepting Weezer's always-welcome volley of power-pop, the titans of the '90s were nowhere in sight.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs are probably the strangest band to earn prime Weenie Roast real estate, though they do have one genuine smash hit ("Maps") and probably another in the synth-driven single "Zero." The trio's fractured art-pop translated unexpectedly well to KROQ's beer-and-board sport crowd.

Jimmy Eat World's workmanlike emo was a more traditional fit, as the Arizona quartet has a serious fix for anthemic guitar-pop sugar. Singles like "The Middle" and "Sweetness" made strangers hoist Coors Lights to the heavens, but the band satiated its loyal MakeoutClub.com-era fans with deep cuts from its 1999 album, "Clarity."

Kings of Leon had a similar hugeness to its choruses, and even inescapable goofy love-god tunes like "Sex on Fire" and "Use Somebody" seemed refreshed by night breezes and a few thousand lighters in the air.

The grotty punk quartet Rancid has a long-anticipated new album coming out soon, but the band largely stuck to its considerable catalog of steel-toed hits like "Bloodclot" and "Roots Radicals." The band has only gained vitality with new drummer Branden Steineckert and its live set was like watching a gang of rowdy old sailors pulling into port -- singing gang-chant odes to their own longevity and spirit and maybe leaving a black eye or two in their wake.

The Airborne Toxic Event and Silversun Pickups illustrated different paths to fame (and whatever counts for fortune in today's music industry) for L.A. bands. Airborne, a new Island Def Jam acquisition, got there from its bleary Brit-rock earnestness. Silversun Pickups kicked around Silver Lake for years before striking gold with one of its oldest singles, the raspy crowd favorite "Lazy Eye." Each act was in good form at Weenie Roast, especially the Pickups, whose gauzy guitar thrash easily hit the cheap seats.

Weezer's early evening set was the one nod to the KROQ formula and while recent albums have indulged front man Rivers Cuomo's yearning to be a genuine codpiece-rock god, the band's brisk performance pleasantly reinforced why they get to play stadiums. "Say It Ain't So" and "The Good Life" still sound like nothing else on the radio.

This year's Weenie Roast, which closed out with TRV$DJ-AM offering up grindable exit music for the crowd, suggested that mainstream rock fans have broader tastes than KROQ sometimes gives them credit for. But it also proved that, sometimes, a dip in the status quo can be rather fulfilling.

-- August Brown

Photos: Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (top) and (bottom, from left to right) Lars Frederiksen, Branden Steineckert, and Tim Armstrong of Rancid peforming at KROQ’s Weenie Roast at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine. Christine Cotter / Los Angeles Times

Maybe they'll call it the Weezer Roast? Or just a Rancid Picnic?

Weezer, Kings of Leon, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jimmy Eat World, Rancid and Silversun Pickups are among the headliners for the KROQ-FM (106.7) Weenie Roast Y Fiesta at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater on May 16.

Tickets go on sale at 5 p.m. Thursday (May 7).

The other announced acts on the bill: Cage the Elephant, Asher Roth, Anberlin, Hollywood Undead, White Lies, the Airborne Toxic Event, Big B.

The Weenie Roast began in 1993 with a show featuring Stone Temple Pilots, Dramarama, X, The The and Terence Trent D'Arby, believe it or not. Last year, Metallica, the Racontuers and the Offspring led the bill, one again reinforcing the show's Mad Libs approach to live-music booking.  

The concert is a fundraiser for a number of charities, including Heal the Bay, the Surfrider Foundation and the AIDS Services Foundation Orange County.

-- Geoff Boucher

Photo: Rivers Cuomo. Credit: Bryan Haraway / Getty Images

Sometimes it takes more than just music to heal.

Last night, a slice of the Los Angeles music community visited the dark basement space of the Echoplex for a benefit concert intended to raise awareness and money for children with cancer. All proceeds from the sold-out Silversun Pickups show, which was announced only three days in advance, went to the Pablove Foundation, an organization supporting cancer research and arts, music and play programs for young cancer patients.

The show was dedicated to one child in particular, Pablo Castelaz, the 5-year-old son of Silver Lake-based Dangerbird Records co-founder Jeff Castelaz and his wife, Jo Ann Thrailkill. Pablo was diagnosed with a bilateral Wilms’ tumor nearly a year ago, and is receiving treatment at Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles.

Dangerbird Records is home to many rising stars of the Silver Lake scene, including The Dears, Darker My Love and last night’s headliners, Silversun Pickups.

Silver Lake’s Silversun Pickups are now in the same league as superstars Miley Cyrus, Rascal Flatts and Lady Gaga -- or at least in the neighborhood. The indie quartet has scored its first-ever top 10 album, landing at No. 7 with “Swoon," placing the fuzzy guitar rockers between Jadakiss and Lady Gaga.

It was a good week for independents overall. Saturday was a quasi-holiday for independent retailers, as it marked the second edition of Record Store Day, which was established last year by music-store operators to encourage consumers to shop at mom-and-pop outlets. A host of labels – major and indie alike – released exclusive or early product on Saturday.

Nielsen SoundScan reports that album sales at the independent retail sector were up 21% over the previous week, the only segment with a boost. By comparison, sales at chains dipped 14%, and big-box mass retailers suffered a 34% decline as mainstream retailers readjusted to non-Easter foot traffic.

As for the Silversun Pickups’ 10-song “Swoon,” the set sold 43,000 copies in its first week of release giving the group the best sales week of its career. The band’s intentions with “Swoon” were clear early on. The Silversun Pickups performed in a prime slot Friday night at the 10th edition of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, appearing just before Paul McCartney on one of the fest’s two outdoor stages.

Pop & Hiss will be covering the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., on April 17-19. There are more than 120 acts on the bill, and in the days leading up to the festival, we'll be selecting some of the best bets -- some on the radar, some flying below.

Who: Silversun Pickups

Why Silver Lake’s latest mega-stars could make or break a long career at this show: Of all the scads of Silver Lake bands that have threatened to crack the national consciousness over the years (and there have been scads), the Pickups’ ascent made a lot of sense. Every song on their debut album “Carnavas” had at least one instant-anthem guitar hook, and despite Brian Aubert’s best efforts to rid himself of his larynx, singles such as “Lazy Eye” and “Well Thought Out Twinkles” stood out on mainstream rock radio while still playing by structures a casual KROQ-er could get behind.

“Swoon,” their much-awaited follow-up, will likely test the outer fringes of that formula -- kickoff single “Panic Switch” is almost six minutes long, with an intro of atonal guitar creaks and some of Aubert’s most idiosyncratically raspy singing yet. If the new tunes do gangbusters before Coachella’s home-field crowd, it’ll bode well for the follow-up’s chances to win the charts and minds of mainstream fans. This will be the first set in which those chips start falling.

The Silversun Pickups certainly lucked out Friday night in Austin, Texas, at the South by Southwest music festival and conference. Here's a way to guarantee that not only your show will be packed, but kids also will be watching from the parking garage rooftop across the street: Play the opening set on a not-so-secret show by Metallica.

Unveiling five of 10 songs from its forthcoming April disc "Swoon," the Silver Lake-based rockers more than held the attention of the crowd, arriving in Austin with a fiercer, more atmospheric sound. It was good news for the band when its hit 2007 single, "Lazy Eye," felt like the set's lightest, most undemanding cut, hopefully foreshadowing a bit of a growth spurt for the band.

New single "Panic Button" had more life on stage than it does on the radio, with Nikki Monninger's bass playing the steady but spirited counter to the swirl of fuzz-drenched guitars that threaten to engulf everything in sight. Brian Aubert's muted, scratched vocals are echoed by the guitar line, which seems to gradually drift from the melody, giving the band a grander, more spacious sound.

But even better was set closer "Growing Old is Getting Old," a murkier, slower and far more mysterious song. It's a cut that's all atmosphere, with a night-crawling bass that swamps its way through the keyboard mist, and a guitar riff that teasingly feels leashed in. It was an exercise in tension. More important, it revealed a band that isn't afraid to challenge itself.

More notes from Night 3 of South by Southwest: