Les Savy Fav – What Would Wolves Do?

Will he ever get tired of posting about this band I hear you say. In truth, probably not. Suffice to say, I heart LSF. Well, it is Valentine’s Day! So, if i am posting about one of the best, sweatiest, and energetic rock bands on the planet, why oh why is it about their old single i hear you say again! The reason being, they only finished the bloody video! So, for everyone’s viewing pleasure, below is the video to LSF’s previous single – What Would Wolves Do? – finally!

Perfect timing by the guys, as they are just about to release their new single, Patty Lee. I posted about it a few weeks ago so no need to go into that again. Although, rather than putting up the video, it’s worth mentioning their recent Conan O’Brian performance of the new song. Tim Harrington is up to his usual antics again, it’s worth a look.
The one bit of concrete LSF news I can inform you about is the re-release of their 18 track singles collection – Inches – by Wichita Recording, due in early March. Well worth investing in, for a general overview of their career, if you’re new to the band.

There are rumours about a Dublin date, but I didn’t say that. You heard it elsewhere.

Screw it, here’s the Conan clip, enjoy!

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.

I’m all out of love part 3

So I finally have a chance to get back to moaning about gigs. Saturday the 27th of October was my third of that week – Les Savy Fav in Crawdaddy. Previously I’d heard from some people just how good a live band these guys really are. Seemingly they stole the show at ATP during the summer, and Crawdaddy was no exception. Also, it’s not every night you get accosted by Amy Winehouse (unless that is, you live in London and frequent every awards ceremony going). I should explain, a large portion of the crowd arived in fancy dress. Amy, Wolfman, and Robot Girl seemed to enjoy LSF immensely, so they informed me afterwards. But nobody seemed to enjoy themselves more than LSF’s larger than life frontman, Tim Harrington. While his wit and posturing can be annoying at times, his performance and delivery is stunning. The band themselves are super tight accomplished players, and their set packed a real punch. The operative word here is energy – the energy of the band, and the crowd. It was hectic stuff, played hard and fast. The band fed off the crowd, and vice versa. If Johnny Giles had been there, he would’ve said the crowd were like a 12th player! Gigs like this make you wish you were in a band – this band.

A sold out show, a crowd as ‘up for it’ as the band, and a wealth of excellent songs played and received like each one was an anthem. No wonder The Ticket gave it Gig of the Week. The title of this post is completely irrelevant, I hang my head, I love live music!

The clip below pretty much sums up the night, “The Sweat Descends”. How apt!