Lay Sah-vee Fahv

In a bid to elaborate on my end of year album/song charts, I’m going to highlight a few, erm….highlights from the year. First up was Matthew Dear. And now, another band that made it into both charts, Les Savy Fav. I have to admit, at the start of the year I knew little or nothing about these guys. I always heard people referring to them as a second rate Fugazi, but reports from an ATP festival earlier this year suggested they were alot more than this. Within a week of that festival their new album had landed on my desk, and I never looked back. Let’s Stay Friend’s is LSF’s 4th studio album, arriving unexpectedly as rumours circulated that the band had called it a day – the title obviously a dig at the conjecture and gossip surrounding the band’s future. Their American label, Frenchkiss Records was set up by LSF bassist Syd Butler to put out their own records initially, but the label has gone on to release work by bands such as The Hold Steady, The Apes, The Big Sleep, Thunderbirds Are Now!, and Tangiers, but the UK/Irish release of Let’s Stay Friend’s was handled by Wichita Recordings.

In my opinion, LSF will remain one of the most memorable bands of 2007 for many reasons. Their live show in Crawdaddy was without doubt one of the finest this year. Raucous, thrilling, energetic, euphoric, sweaty, unpretentious, and downright entertaining! I posted about it at the time, and there’s some footage on there too that sums up the night accurately. It took ten years off me, in a good way that is. Track 4 on Let’s Stay Friends, Patty Lee made it into my Top 10 of the year. The video is posted below, and I imagine it’ll make it into next year’s poll also, as it’s set for a February ’08 release. My patient friend and bandmate had to endure this song on constant repeat for a solid hour on a recent trip back from a very bizarre gig in a scout hall in Kilcoole. In my defence I’d had a few, it was my birthday, and I was stuck in the passenger seat of a car on the M50 heading in the wrong direction! It will be backed by The Sweat Descends, an older but amazing track that featured on the collection of singles released a few years ago, Inches.

Enjoy, check out the album, and definitely catch them live if you can.