"Substitution" is a song by American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band Silversun Pickups. It is the second single from the band's second studio album ''

Swoon Swoon may refer to: *Swoon hypothesis, a number of theories about the resurrection of Jesus Christ * ''Swoon'' (film), a film on the 1924 Leopold and Loeb murder case *Swoon (artist) Caledonia Curry (born 1977), whose work appears under the nam ...

'' (2009). The song was released to American

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

radio on September 15, 2009. "Substitution" reached numbers 17 and 26 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

and

Rock Songs Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (formerly known as Rock Songs and Hot Rock Songs) is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine. From its debut on June 20, 2009, through October 13, 2012, the chart ranked the airplay of songs across alternati ...

charts, respectively.

Music video

The music video for "Substitution" was directed by The Malloys and premiered on September 15, 2009. It features models playing a game of musical chairs as the band performs the song. In an interview prior to the video's release, the band's frontman Brian Aubert claimed: "They were actually playing musical chairs for a real prize. It got pretty ugly. Everybody in the room watching it was like, 'This is the weirdest thing.' All the girls are color-coded. In one way, it's bright and sort of silly, but the way we're looking at it is sort of depressing. In fact, I have to admit: it's by far the darkest video we've ever done."

Track listing

Charts

References

{{Silversun Pickups 2009 songs 2009 singles Silversun Pickups songs Dangerbird Records singles Music videos directed by The Malloys