Les Savy Fav: Classic or Dud

check out 'in these woods', 'we've got boxes' or 'adopduction if you don't believe me.

plus that live show is mega.

it is awesome, i agree. it's got a calm, somewhat haunting vibe that's unlike anything i've heard from them.

That Hit by Car and Hit by Train are so good while deviating from the typical LSF formula of guitar skronk/reverb, stiff rhythms and pun-ny sloganeering seems to indicate genuine talent and quality beneath the particular trappings.

new album thoughts? they done gone got tunes!

Are they touring this in the UK? Haven't heard it yet mind...

Just checked. Looks like one date only.

Dud. I hate to smack down a well-touted guitar band but they don't have the songs and the great Thunderbirds Are Now get reduced to them unfairly. Only "Sweat Descends" leaves an impression for me.

Ugh. Thunderbirds Are Now are such boring bullshit, having seen them on the stage with Savvy Fav.

Frankly, though, live LSV are fucking classicer than classic, but I've never found any of their albums all that compelling. I've seen 'em a handful of times now, and I almost always walk out with their latest, only to be baleful on the ride home. They seem to go into the studio with the expressed mission of smoothing all of the weirdness out.

how is the new album? i don't count on pfrk.

I bet you don't you Pitchfork-hating hipster, you.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/pitchfork_gives_music_6_8

i like the new album a lot....mostly everything les savy fav has put out is pretty good

i am not digging the new record as much as i hoped i would
les savy fav are capable of really exciting music. this sounds a little by the numbers for my liking. harrington seems to be overdoing the vocals a bit too. his shouting style works really well when the musical backdrop is more angular and hard-hitting than this, but the music on this one is strangely subdued, at times perhaps threatening to take off, but mostly just circling around.

'patty lee' and 'kiss kiss is getting old' are great tracks, however

I like it.

really? which tracks?

Raging in the Plague Age really stood out

I really like Let's Stay Friends, having never heard LSF before.

you're in for a treat when you explore further

"let's stay friends" is so good, really think it's their best album (i'm not counting "inches" as an album)

I don't think I ever noticed until now that Let's Stay Friends = LSF = Les Savy Fav.

inches tpk

i'm seeing them on a friday. is this good?

http://www.tonynelsonphoto.com/live/images/LesSavyFaTN26.jpg

"Is this good", he asks.

they are a very very good live band unless you are turned off by wacky singer antics

yes surm it is very good.

yayyy

haven't thought about this band since what feels like forever. somehow go forth and the ROME ep turned up on my stereo tonight and holy smokes it is a good ass rock record. please don't make me think about the lyrics, i just want to ignore them and focus on the guitar and drums basically. feels as good as i remember 2002 feeling, yeah!

...but les savy fav's lyrics are great.

new album in September!!!!

http://pitchfork.com/news/39182-les-savy-fav-return-with-new-album/

so jazzed

yeah saw that, very good news

Just spun the new album, "Root For Ruin," several times. It probably deserves its own thread but I am too timid to be the one to start one. The album is excellent, though. It's much more stripped-down than "Let's Be Friends"—no dance-punk riffs, duets, flashy production tricks, etc—but very much a continuation of that album's songwriting. It seems to be easily earnest Les Savy Fav album yet; at its core it's a really sweet relationship album. Really, really excited to spend more time with this one.

Ha, fun to see this revived -- last month I actually got to meet Harrison at Bard University on my trip out east, as he's in the same MFA program a cousin of mine is in. Very friendly guy, he was doing some good work!

this is really good!!!

the end chorus to "lips n' stuff" is wow

the kids will kill you any way they can
their teeth are bleached but their tits are tan

lots of indie rock lifer stuff in here but not as corny springsteen as hold steady's

i really kind of hated 'let's stay friends' and am therefore quite apprehensive about this new one. evan's observations upthread, and the similarities he notes between the songwriting approach on each album tends to exacerbate my concerns. after giving it a fair old chance i just found LSF really flat, and the songs i preferred were in fact the duets, largely being due to to the input of the guest musicians. i still really love the band and will give the new album a good listen in the hope that i find something to connect with.

I think you're going to be really pleasantly surprised by this one, Charlie. Even if the songwriting is more Let's Stay Friends, the approach is more 3/5—very direct. Harrington has just replaced the flights of fantasy with more human concerns.

like...maybe this is their best album? (honestly)

wow, excited

i really disagree w/the pitchfork review of this

in what way?

they knock sleepless in silverlake and let's get out of here for killing the momentum but i like those songs....and they don't like "calm down" which i really like, the chords are kinda propulsive to me...overall i just really like the album, the songs, the pacing, etc....

like i understand it's les savy fav being les savy fav, but i think the songs are good and frankly they are a band i kinda expect to sound a certain way....

Surprised by how tepid most of the reviews have been of this one. Maybe I'm blinded by being a fan, but I don't think this is just more of the same; I think it advances the band's songwriting in some really satisfying ways.

After listening to it for a few weeks, I'm not into it as much as their other albums. The production's a little thin and the whole thing just feels kind of insubstantial? I definitely prefer the poppier/slower/spacier songs like Sleepless in Silverlake and Let's Get Out of Here. Some of the punkier songs, like Excess Energies, don't really work for me. Really prefer the first half of the album to the second. Overall, it's a good album but a relative disappointment after Let's Stay Friends (which I love).

also can't believe ILM has gone this long without commenting on the Silver Jews quote in "Appetites"

ha I put the album on after posting the above and listened to the whole thing and it sounds pretty dang good now ... maybe it's growing on me

in hindsight "root for ruin" was a disappointment. not a big disappointment, since I feel like most LSF albums are flawed - the live experience is so much better that most of the recorded output pales in comparison. but it was disappointing following "let's stay friends" which imo is their best album so far (ie the EP and the singles collection don't count). anyways "root for ruin" isn't bad - it's kind of fun while you're listening to it - but I never feel compelled to listen to it.

otm

Thirded, sadly. I still really enjoy this record and think it was way underrated, but it really does suffer badly when compared to Let's Stay Friends, which was definitely the more interesting album.

Maybe it's just the version I downloaded, but this sucker is LOUD. Always have to be on guard when a song comes up on shuffle.

Really enjoying this record right now. It's a bit understated but it's got some great hooks, and I just love the propulsive bass.

their amazing performance of "Patty Lee" on Conan appears to have completely disappeared from the internet

It is back up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXoE6l-AK3c

Pumped for seeing these guys at Primavera (assuming that goes ahead)

early 90s had the underappreciated GBV, early 00s had the underappreciated LSF