Les Savy Fav: Root For Ruin

Veteran alt rockers just get better and better.

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Most bands shoot their load early. If it’s not the debut album that’s

But despite the plaudits that record received, Les Savy Fav remain heroically unsatisfied. ‘We still got our appetite’ spits frontman Tim Harrington on the opener Appetites. And indeed Root For Ruin is faster, tighter, more wired than its predecessor; though just as melodic.

Tracks like Dirty Knails take their cues from the urgent hooky punk of Dead Kennedys, where Lips N’ Stuff sounds like Hüsker Dü at their foot-to-the-floor best.

Gleaming with bug-eyed mischievous energy, Root For Ruin is a total blast and leaves a great many of their younger colleagues sounding tired and slow-witted in comparison.

Will Simpson

Will Simpson was Music Editor of the Big Issue South West in Bristol before relocating to Thailand to become Deputy Editor of English language books magazine New Arrivals. Since returning to the UK he's freelanced, writing about music for Classic Rock, IDJ, Metro and Guitarist, and environmental issues for Resource and The Spark. He also writes for contract publishing titles such as Teach, Thomson Air, Musician and Korg.