With every Les Savy Fav album released to date, spoiled individuals who've been privy to the group's absolutely incredible live show have registered the same complaint: they've never managed to capture the mania of their stage show on a record. Until Tim Harrington's essence can be distilled into convenient CD form, the intensity of the Les Savy Fav live performance can be revealed only to those who actually get a chance to see it with their own eyes. On Rome (Written Upside Down), it appears that the band themselves have finally reached this conclusion as well, and the result is without a doubt their most compelling and engaging record yet.
Rome marks Les Savy Fav's first release since the departure of guitarist Gibb Slife. As a result, the majority of the EP is much tighter than any of the group's previous outings. But while the absence of a second rhythm guitar does occasionally thin out their sound, impeccably placed synthesizers and overdubbed vocals fill in the gaps, resulting in a double-barreled assault of concentrated, fiery energy that Les Savy Fav were never able to achieve with their previous two-guitar lineup.
"I.C. Timer" kicks off the EP with multi-tracked vocals, broken rhythms, and synthetic bleeps. As Tim Harrington sings, "God bless the cyborgs at your door.../ It feels like it's been here se-se-seventy times before," he opts not to attempt a Daltrey-esque stutter, instead applying a digital skip effect. While the band's previous records have featured some electronic manipulation on a much smaller scale, this unpredictable break in the band's natural flow comes as a very welcome surprise.
Rome also marks the first time Les Savy Fav have managed to pull off some genuinely moving-- as opposed to merely ass-moving-- moments. The lack of a second guitarist has driven Tim Harrington's vocals even farther up in the mix, and his singing here is more versatile than it's ever been. On "Asleepers Union," Harrington delivers the line, "It broke the backs of the trees in the forest/ It brought the rats to their knees in the city," with a masterfully executed whimper, and every minor imperfection in his voice contributes to a remarkably warm, organic delivery.
"In These Woods" and "Hide Me from Next February" are classic Les Savy Fav, complete with fractured beats, driving basslines, and fragmented guitar parts. The record's title track and closer combines rigid, distorted drumming and controlled feedback, and ends the disc at new, previously unreachable heights with jagged riffs and a blissful cymbal crash.
Rome (Written Upside Down) presents this Providence, Rhode Island four-piece with a beautiful future-- one in which their records present an experience which, though an alternate dimension away from their live shows, is every bit as fascinating. We've seen Les Savy Fav the ranting maniacs. Now we get to see Les Savy Fav the art students.
