Savages will release their debut LP Silence Yourself on May 7th via Matador Records, and singer Jehnny Beth’s label Pop Noire. Certain bands are generational. They wield such conviction and force of vision as to imprint themselves on our cultural consciousness. Savages just might be that kind of band. This all-female quartet from London delivers necessary medicine for our consumer age, and while it reconnects European punk to it’s deconstructivist tendencies and philosophical roots in critical theory, it also presents us with the next chapter.
Singer Jehnny Beth‘s monologue, which opens the new Giorgio Testi video for the band’s track “Shut Up,” is an incisive cultural indictment of a hyper-exposed society, but more importantly a manifesto issuing a call to action for all who listen. There’s a force of vision here that we haven’t seen from a band in a long time, an ability to impress upon each of us, the consumers, a need to take responsibility for our place in society.
Punk music emerged from necessary deconstructionist tendencies, looking outside of itself to identify the enemy as anything that wielded power over the individual (government, society, religion, family). Savages have a post-critical message, and instead of deferring the source of our problems to an Other, it asks each of us to assess our complicity for the mess in which we find ourselves. It’s rare these days for our entertainment to provide more than a diversion or respite from the problems at hand, but Savages give us just that. So Silence Yourself, and get ready to digest some real food for thought! Oh yeah, the music will amaze, too!
Savages Tour Dates:
April
Thursday 18 San Francisco, CA The Independent
Saturday 20 Indio, CA Coachella
July
Saturday 20 Chicago, IL Pitchfork Music Festival
