Unsurprisingly, reviews of Savages‘ second album, Adore Life, mostly attempt to pigeonhole the mood and style with huge contrasts against their first release, Silence Yourself. Where the first was colder and icy, crushing with its dogged fierceness, the other has been tagged as slightly warmer, moodier, perhaps more vague in subject matter (read “tracks about love and sex”). Both albums are, of course, immediately branded as “post-punk” – whatever that means – and all the Siouxsie comparisons one could muster come to the surface.
Fair enough, if that’s all the listener relies on. However, even if it’s not immediately apparent, their confrontational energy and unapologetic fearlessness celebrate the uncertainties of vulnerability. Songs about love come in all forms. Adore Life happens to have powerful, explosive, tumultuous, even restless songs charged with a hunger for more.
This is one not to miss. See Savages tomorrow night at Emo’s, 2015 E. Riverside Dr., with special guest Angus Tarnawsky opening the show. Doors at 8 p.m. Recommended.
-Photography by Richard Dumas.
