Savages

A trip to the hometown today to sort out Christmas deliveries for my side of the family, which is to say we've been to take my Nan a bunch of flowers and eat a mince pie. Perhaps this picture's a bit risque for a Sunday but it's only words, I guess, and music, of course...

#6 'Silence Yourself' by Savages

Nice to see a band these days with an actual, honest-to-God manifesto. There was a time in the late 70's and early 80's when it was pretty much de rigeur for those of an alternative bent, to the point of becoming the kind of running joke that the new sparkly pop sounds of the eighties were there to sweep away. In today's more careerist musical atmosphere a manifesto seems almost quaint - certainly it smacks of a refreshingly non-cynical approach to their art. It might have seemed like Savages were always going to struggle to live up to the incendiary monochrome power of their celebrated live performances but with 'Silence Yourself' they've managed to make a pretty good fist of it. The influences (post-punk in general, Siouxsie in particular) are obvious but the band transcend them with sharp intellegence, strident visceral guitars ringing over feral tribal toms, a firm grasp of dramatic melodic dynamics and a healthy dose of youthful fury...