U.K. post-punk four-piece Savages will perform live at Neumos in Seattle Monday, September 23. Photo by Robert Delahanty.
Savages has an axe to grind with the information age.
“THE WORLD USED TO BE SILENT,” begins the caps-lock manifesto printed on the jacket of “Silence Yourself,” the Londoners’ recent debut LP. “NOW IT HAS TOO MANY VOICES, AND THE NOISE IS A CONSTANT DISTRACTION.”
On “Silence,” the all-female foursome sounds anything but preoccupied, channeling its societal frustrations into 11 exhilarating post-punk bangers. Though it’s not difficult to imagine Savages sharing bills with Joy Division and Public Image Ltd circa 1978, the band instills its old-school sensibilities with flashes of modernity.
Haunting and authoritative, frontwoman Jehnny Beth’s alto roar at once echoes New Wave goth-rocker Siouxsie Sioux and present-day great Karen O of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. On tracks like “No Face” (listen) and volatile opener “Shut Up” (listen), the band’s bellicose rhythm section — bassist Ayse Hassan, and drummer Fay Milton — cuts and gnashes in unison. Gemma Thompson’s guitars, meanwhile, chime on “She Will” (listen), then pummel on “I Am Here” (listen).
No two songs on “Silence” sound alike — rather, each feel like important moving parts of something greater — and the clarity and totality of the band’s vision is especially impressive considering it formed only two years ago.
Savages play Seattle’s Neumos club Monday. Check your iPhone at the door.
Savages, Duke Garwood
8 p.m. Monday at Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., Seattle; $15 (206-709-9467 or
www.neumos.com)