Les Savy Fav

Like hard drugs, Les Savy Fav's "Go Forth" will at first sicken you. You'll reject the foriegn element. You'll beg and pant for the more recognizable band that made their previous releases so solid. But like hard drugs, the disco dance beats and jagged glass guitar lines draw you in. You'll start to wonder how you ever did without it. Oh, you'll try to quit, but it's no use. About a week ago I tried to take it out of my stereo to listen to some Sleater Kinney. The little fucker stared me down and is still spinning in my CD player. I can hear it laughing at my futile efforts still.

"Go Forth" isn't so much a departure for Les Savy Fav so much as it's more of a surprise. Most of the elements were already foreshadowed on 2000's "Emor (Spelled Upside Down)" EP, it's just how far they took them that surprised me upon first listens. Bassist's Syd Butler and drummer Harrison Haynes rythm recalls more of a disco dance club then that of a dirty basement punk club, while Seth Jabour's harsh, angular guitar lines veer and carren all over the place more rampant than usual. Tim Harrington's existential rants range from desolate commentary on post modern boredome to the hilarious stockholm syndrome of "Adopduction" ("pretty soon I could trust them/ dare i say it even love them"). Elsewhere, such as on the shimmmering "Tragic Monsters" guitars, drums, and keyboard meld together to provide one of the best songs on the record. On "Reprobate's Revenge", Tim Harrington spits out over a sketchy backbeat and distorted riff "blessed be the doctor/ and blessed be the nurse/ and blessed be the coachman/ who put me in this herse" before crashing into Wire-esque guitar jangle, all while being backed by Butler and Haynes solid disco beat.

So, as I write this, the little son of a bitch is spinning away, running through my system like high quality smack. It's been an ordeal. I'm dirty and haven't slept for several days now. Yet this disc isn't letting go anytime soon. Next time I see you I'll probably be babbling incoherently, desperatly clutching onto Les Savy Fav's "Go Forth", searching for a stereo to play this, again and again.