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CD Review: Les Savy Fav Continues to 'Go Forth' with Latest
By: David Malitz - U-WIRE
December 14th 2001 6:16pm
(U-WIRE) COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Les Savy Fav is a band in the truest sense of the word. It's a group of four equal parts completely dedicated to putting out the best possible product, whether that be an album, a live performance or a record by another band on the band's own label, French Kiss. The persistence and dedication the band has shown over the past six years are two of the reasons that Rhode Island-based Les Savy Fav has become one of the hottest bands on the indie-rock circuit. But while persistence and dedication are nice, they ultimately don't mean much unless you've got good songs to complement them. Luckily for Les Savy Fav, they've got plenty of them. Building on the success of last year's Rome (Written Upside Down) EP, the band's latest full-length, Go Forth, offers more of the jagged guitars, propulsive rhythms and abstract lyrics that have garnered Les Savy Fav (vocalist Tim Harrington, guitarist Seth Jabber, bassist Syd Butler and drummer Harrison Haynes) a considerable following. On the band's latest tour, which wrapped up this weekend at Washington's Black Cat, the band played larger venues and more importantly has been filling them. "It used to be 15 or 20 kids a lot, but now we can play in front of 150 kids in Denver on a Monday night," bassist Syd Butler said. Friday night's crowd at the Black Cat was even more sizeable, as Washington has always been one of the cities that the band has drawn well in, no doubt due to the similiarities of the band's sound to area veterans such as Fugazi, Nation of Ulysses and Jawbox. Butler claims that The Pixies were a major influence on the band early on, but now the band "has more of a new wave or no wave sound." "I think we try to write songs that have a certain kind of energy," Butler said. "We have to play these songs over and over again so when we write it's just what inspires us to have as much fun as possible. We're not an emo band so we don't have to write emo songs. We're not a ska band, so we don't have to write ska songs. We have this incredible freedom, so we can approach it anyway we want." The freedom Butler talks about is no doubt enhanced by the fact that Les Savy Fav is basically its own boss. The members started French Kiss a few years back and besides releasing their own albums, the label is home to Washington trash-rock faves The Apes and Minneapolis based joker Sean Na. Butler plays the role of overseer, but each band member has a vital part in running the label. With the band on tour for the majority of the year and spending time running the label during much of the downtime, the guys in the band are quite familiar with each other. "We're definitely a close-knit group," Butler said. "We're in each other's brains, whether we like it or not. But it definitely helps the energy of the label and helps other bands want to be on the label. We just want to work with bands that make us excited. We're happy to do it. And it's fun."
(C) 1999 The Diamondback via U-WIRE
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