Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Savages and Wax Idols

Savages, out of London, are getting a lot of attention lately, a glowing profile in the New Yorker, a 8.7 BNM review from Pitchfork, a live appearance on Jools Holland (see below).



I have to say I feel more in tune with the zeitgeist than usual, as the debut Silence Yourself is intensely, unflinchingly good...and, obviously, targeted at people exactly like me with a Pavlovian response to GO4-ish picked bass, Siouxie wails and jittery, unsentimental angst.

Still in the girls fronting no-wave-into-post-punk bands sweepstakes, I probably like Wax Idols a little better...Savages have a philosophy, maybe a manifesto, and so are easier to write about, but check this video of "Sound of a Void" from Discipline and Desire.



Good to see the girls up front though, in both cases, and kicking ass.

5 comments:

Jean-Luc Garbo said...

You're on a roll the past few days. I'll have to listen to more Speedy Ortiz and Kait Lawson now. That's cool you've heard Wax Idols. I still need to buy the record. I follow the lead singer on Twitter and she's been less than happy that she's the one being compared to Savages. One of the more enjoyable people on Twitter otherwise tho.

jenniferpkelly said...

Thanks Andrew. Are other people comparing Savages to Wax Idols? I have to get out more...it would save so much time if I could just steal from other people.

Jean-Luc Garbo said...

The otherwise fine Pitchfork review did so. The two bands keep popping up in other reviews together as if they're anything alike. I just found this short interview with the band: http://www.sfbg.com/2013/02/12/rise-wax-idols

I'm especially interested in Kait Lawson. I'm glad you're writing about these women because otherwise I'd be stuck with Camera Obscura and Savages all year! I love Camera Obscura, but not listening to other people who are newer tends to make me tune out.

jenniferpkelly said...

Yes, that Kait Lawson was in the slush pile, and I put it on for the usual 30 seconds and decided to listen more. Her band has a whole bunch of journeymen side players, so it's pretty tight musically, and I like her voice and her take on the world.

In terms of girls, if that's what we're talking about, I can also recommend Waxahatchee and Lisa Germano.

Jean-Luc Garbo said...

I forgot about Germano's album. I need to listen to it soon. Still trying with Waxahatchee tho. Other people like Angel Olsen and now Wax Idols are still on my radar, but someone like Lawson would slip right by. Speedy Ortiz as well which would be too bad because that's the sort of band my girlfriend loves.