Savages // Adore Life

Savages

Adore Life

Matador

4.5/5 stars

There's an album every once in a while that you really get excited about. Adore Life is one of those albums. I quickly became a rabid fan of Savages, a proselytizer even. The sophomore record from this London four-piece finds the band honing in tighter and establishing their sound perfectly. 2013's Silence Yourself was a lot to live up to, but Adore Life succeeds. This record is more balanced than the debut. There are fewer frantic explosions and more unwavering chemical burns thrown at you. Their decidedly post-punk sound may remind you that it's time to listen to more Siouxsie and the Banshees or Joy Division, but that's only going to be good for you right? The guitars are thick, sounding like metal scraping against concrete at full volume, while the bass buzzes along deeply, and the drums sink into your skin with hypnotic acumen. Singer Jehnny Beth's vocals cast a feverish, introspective rallying cry over it all. These four women are building something powerful, intriguing, and anything but adorable. Monochromatic and monolithic, nearly every one of the 10 tracks is an energizingly poetic wall of sound. – Nick Warren