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Published on 7/24/08
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In the six years since this Brooklyn postpunk outfit released its last studio album, Go Forth, Les Savy Fav’s powerful and direct live shows have become a reliable indie-scene thrill (thanks in large part to singer Tim Harrington’s willingness to shed all but the most crucial of wardrobe elements). So it comes as something of a surprise that on Let’s Stay Friends, the group’s fourth full-length, Harrington and his bandmates seem more interested in texture and dynamics than ever before. They’ve gone TV on the Radio at a moment when their fans might’ve been satisfied with the Ramones.
That’s not to suggest that Les Savy Fav don’t rock out here; in “The Equestrian,” for example, guitarist Seth Jabour appears to be demonstrating his intimacy with the AC/DC songbook. But the majority of Let’s Stay Friends—which features guest appearances by an expansive cast of Pitchfork types (including Fred Armisen and Metric’s Emily Haines)—mines a more contemplative vein. Opening song “Pots & Pans” finds Harrington reflecting on LSF’s on-again, off-again status over a ringing early-U2 groove, while “Comes & Goes,” a lovely duet between Harrington and Eleanor Friedberger of the Fiery Furnaces, shimmers with piano and acoustic guitar. If the Talking Heads comparisons that used to dog these RISD alumni still hold water, then consider Let’s Stay Friends their Little Creatures.
Les Savy Fav plays Music Hall of Williamsburg Fri 21 and Bowery Ballroom Sat 22.
