Savages – Silence Yourself

All female rock bands with the attitude and poise of Savages are a rare commodity.  Their intensity both on and off stage, (judging by interviews) sets them apart.  A reputation for powerful live performances has already been established; they do not ask for attention, they demand it from their audience.  There is no pretence, they do things on their terms and are unapologetic about it.  For instance, the album title Silence Yourself is a message in itself, urging us to forget modern frivolities, by taking stock of our lives in an act of self-discovery.  In terms of fortitude, they have thrown the gauntlet down to their male counterparts

Joy Division is an over-used comparison when it comes to any band extracting post-punk sensibilities, but any obvious parallels tend to be refined to a live setting when it comes to Savages. Onstage, you can detect Ian Curtis mannerisms, an unrestrained intensity as Jehnny Beth feeds off the sound waves around her, before expelling them through sporadic movement and brooding lyricism.  

But songs like City’s Full, with Gemma Thompsons thunderous guitar and Ayse Hassan’s ballsy bass lines accompanied by Beth’s vocal ferocity, are more aligned to noise rock.  In an interview they remarked, instead of playing conventional chords and guitar lines, they preferred to experiment with sound, distorting notes to create an unsettling atmosphere, similar to a band like Swans.  Waiting for a Sign has these piercing waves of guitar and the repeated snap of a snare drum, whilst Dead Nature has unsettling prods of bass and what sounds like distant church bells, all eerie touchstones of Swans albums over the years. 

They confront issues of sexuality head-on in She Will; “She will forget her pain/She will come back again/Get hooked on loving hard/Forcing the slut out.”  The sharp punchy feel of Hit Me has a no-wave feel to it, calling to mind Lydia Lunch’s (Teenage Jesus and the Jerks), aggressive vocal style. She Will, sees pulsating drums crash along with ecstatic screams as the song climaxes, recalling the rawness of Fever to Tell era Yeah Yeah Yeahs.  Closer, Marshal Dear could be PJ Harvey at her emotive best, it displays a gentler touch, with piano and spurts of saxophone adding further texture to their sound.  But with lines like, “There are suicides in every dream, Marshal Dear,” dark imagery which haunts the album doesn’t remain dormant for long.

As a band in its infancy, the level of self-assurance on Silence Yourself is refreshing, it displays the kind of confidence which many truly memorable musicians encapsulate.   They take elements of gothic post-punk and transplant them into a heady world of feverish feedback.  You get the sense they are a band that immerse themselves in their music, they have a message and the conviction to deliver it.

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By Garrett Hargan