I Can’t Protect You

The Smashing Pumpkins “No Surrender”

Despite many valid, harsh criticisms of their most recent tour, The Smashing Pumpkins are still more than capable of producing very good new songs, even if they come a bit more sporadically these days. “No Surrender,” a song written and performed during the band’s residency in San Francisco, is a mellow composition with an abundance of negative space and bright guitar notes that seem to blink in and out like white Christmas lights. The melodies are lovely, but at least in terms of Billy Corgan’s discography, atypically understated. Though the piece has its subtle dynamics, there is no bombast or drama, just this slow, meditative drift between delicate thoughts and emotions. Corgan’s vocal performance is also rather understated, and focused primarily on the lower register of his limited, trebly singing voice. He sounds relaxed and mature, and some turns of phrase sound absolutely gorgeous in a way specific to his body of work. The general sound of “No Surrender” is not without precedent in his catalog — the psychedelic tone owes something to the Gish era, and there are echos of the brilliant Mellon Collie outtake “Set The Ray To Jerry” — but the song certainly points to a more promising and rewarding future for the band than the bland excesses of many of the pieces recently showcased on tour.

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