Savages, recorded live during the BBC 6 Music Festival in Bristol February 12th.
In any event, Bristol has become the musical center of the universe for that weekend, with a three day festival celebrating a wide swath of current musical offerings, to the tune of some 100+ bands, playing at just about every venue throughout the small English town.
Tonight it’s Savages, the Female Punk/Post-Punk/Experimental/Noise conglomerate currently making huge waves in critical and audience circles all around Europe, and have been doing it since 2012.
When I first came in contact with Savages, I thought they were a French band. Mostly because I heard them via a French Festival somewhere outside of Paris a few years ago, broadcast by the RFI Station Le Mouv, and because their lead singer, Jehnny Beth is French and was speaking to the audience in French – I naturally assumed. They were, in a word; intense uncompromising, unflinching and anything but genteel. Not that I expected them to sound like a toss between Holeand Sleater-Kinney, but I wasn’t really expecting a hardcore sonic assault on the most raw level – they were different.
They are not for all tastes – and, from what I have been reading and hearing, a band you either love or hate – they seem impervious to apathy – and frankly, I like that in a band – music you listen to, not at. And Savages do an excellent job at effortlessly holding you hostage for the length of their set. They make for compelling listening
But Savages are just a sampling of the vast number of bands currently performing in Bristol during this festival. Because it’s sponsored by BBC 6 Music, they are running the festival (as much as possible) live, over the entire weekend. Sadly, it won’t be possible to hear everyone playing. But what we are getting is certainly worth the price of admission, and you have to hand it to the BBC for taking the time and the effort to bring such a wide array of talent live from the stage to the rest of the world.
I only wish there were more like them.
The Fat Angel Sings 