At some point in 1998 I was standing alone in a triangular bar watching Les Savy Fav pound away. Their show was unannounced. I luckily stumbled across the club's listing that morning at work in "Creative Loafing." I'd been yearning to witness Les Savy Fav's live show, which had been garnering disciples along the upper industrial coast. And there I was, alone. Les Savy Fav were essentially playing just for me. Typically this scenario would be embarrassing-- a band outnumbering the crowd-- but Les Savy Fav rocked like I was Budokon.
Tim Harrington stepped off the stage to sing in my face. His eyes bulged with fervent adrenaline in a near thyroid- deficient manner. One guitarist stepped off the stage and flanked me. This band, with the audacity and zeal to rock an audience of one (not including the bar staff who were wiping up in back), instantly won my heart. They worked up a sweat for me. They stormed the vault in my brain where I keep my favorite bands, awoke some slumbering old-timers with slaps, and kicked some undeserving squatters out the ear.
Most reviews of Les Savy Fav inevitably mention the band's live show. On one hand, it demonstrates the band's stage dominance, but it also points to the fact that their two LPs to date have been unable to capture that intensity. This is not to say the albums haven't been vital slabs of modern American punk. More so it reveals the effects of the modern digital age on the underground. Pro-Tools and CDs have spoiled the rural and suburban audience. Production quality has grown crisp, polished and cheap. Kids can hear more music, faster. Distribution with the internet and the matured market puts CDs in Wyoming and Andorra.
Les Savy Fav's approach rouses the early days of punk-- the late 70's and 80's. Fans still claim the Clash couldn't make a great record, which seems preposterous these days. But those fans saw the Clash live. Certainly Minor Threat's live shows punched the gut harder than their 7"s. Seeing a band live was essential. Back then, attendance and word of mouth mattered more. Don't take this as a discount of the modern scene. What I'm trying to get at is that Les Savy Fav make great records, which are not necessarily meant to out-do their live show, but to document and supplement the band's physical presence instead. So just listen.
The Cat and the Cobra progresses further than Les Savy Fav's debut, 3/5, with a richer mix, added instrumental elements, and a slightly more confrontational sound. The once- subtle Brainiac elements have blossomed into obvious touchstones. The Frankenstein bass and sparking guitar of "We've Got Boxes" brings to mind Hissing Prigs in Static Couture. Warbling vocal effects and unnatural bass undulations under "Wake Up!" also recall Dayton's late innovators. "The Orchard" opens with resigned, sighing vocals and chiming melodic picks that eventually add hammers and dynamite to Smart Went Crazy's style of art-pop. Elsewhere, the attitude and duel guitar punji stabs continue the spirit of the Pixies.
But clearly the focus of Les Savy Fav is the brilliantly demented Tim Harrington. He spits the most contrived sentiments with such conviction that it immediately becomes new gospel. On "Who Rocks the Party," cries of "Who rocks the party like we rock the body body!" lead into declarations of, "They can let loose the dogs on us/ Because the dogs like us more than the dogs like them!" It may read stupid, but how often have you shouted "I am un chein andolusian!" along with Black Francis on "Debaser?" Meanwhile, drums throb underneath. No fills. No high hats. Guitars screech. It's primal and reviving.
Let's face it, there aren't many bands keeping punk fresh. This is about a mission. This isn't about songs or being catchy. But somehow it is. Les Savy Fav belong on Dischord at the turn of the last decade, but fate and luck gave them to us now, when music most needs them.
