Let's Stay Friends

Les Savy Fav | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 18, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Frenchkiss
• ASIN: B000UVLSVE
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #132,751 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

If there is such a thing as the "subtle anthem," then Les Savy Fav has perfected an intelligent, full-flail version of the art on Let's Stay Friends, their first wholly new album in six years. The delay was due to a massive case of writer's block, but you'd not guess it by the riches here. The way LSS mixes together so many elements of energetic alt-rock sounds from the 1990s continues to startle, and to evolve. Echoes of detuned, angular, post-punk firebrands such as Fugazi, the Ex, and Jawbox float about on most songs. But the group has clearly expanded its horizons and interests on this album, which features horns, dub elements, and stabbing vocal accompaniment by Eleanor Friedberger (the Fiery Furnaces). The cute, acoustic strum-heavy "Comes and Goes" has something of the hyper-literate anorak-indie sheen of the Wedding Present to it, while the heady "Brace Yourself" simmers and swaggers like a great, soulful Afghan Whigs number. A couple other songs sound like Spoon in their get-this-party-started phase. Needless to say, with the acute songwriting skills and croon-shouting of Tim Harrington, the group doesn't sound like anyone but themselves. Harrington's a great stylist, a true smarty-pants. Intense word play mixes with jokes that reveal themselves to be heavy truths, making Let's Stay Friends a contender for Les Savy Fav's best album yet. --Mike McGonigal

Product Description

Since forming in 1994, Les Savy Fav has grown into a band considered among the godfathers of the independent rock music scene, releasing three albums and a singles compilation that resulted in sales of over 1000,000 copies worldwide. Their constant success can be attributed to the overseeing of every aspect of their music including the release of it.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars LSF built it up again, October 15, 2007

By 

George a Pletz "cult explorer" (Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Let's Stay Friends (Audio CD)

Les Savy Fav's previous release, "Inches", was not an album but a singles collection. Due to its sequencing of newest to oldest, it was easy to forget since it all held together so well. With "Let's Stay Friends", it sometimes feels like the opposite. The opener "Pots and Pans" serves the statement of intent purpose that "Meet Me in The Dollar Bin" did but after that it seems that all bets are off. By picking up the thread from Go Forth, the last full length, LSF are throwing new elements into the mix all over the place. And to further throw us off, the lyrics are far more direct than before. The mood here is more upbeat than what I had come to expect. Yes there are bits of darkness around the edges but this seems to be more about the joy of performance and a sense of comaraderie in the band. And the music gives us that in spades. The music and vocals just fuse together effortlessly. And believe trying to explain what it sounds like to a novice is not easy. You can throw out a bunch of names but nothing really gets it all. You could write paragraphs on the sound of Seth Jambour's guitars alone. Echoing without being dub, fractured but not noise, psychedelic but not noodlingly are good descriptors but, damn! They have a style which points in a lot of directions but it's simply their own. It has the post punk need to experiement and bring new colors to the palette. It has the aggressive force of mid nineties guitar rock before it descended into the cartoonish heavier than thou poses of nu-metal. There is a quirky and humane quality behind all the bombast. On the downside, it may take a couple spins for it to find its way into your skull. And don't bother reading the lyric sheet either. I think it works better coming in through the ear than the eye. Personally I like the 2nd half of the album better. A fun record that doesn't feel stupid. I think there one of the best rock bands going today. For aging indie kids like me anyhow. Four and 1/2 stars.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So Glad They Didn't Call It Quits, September 18, 2007

By 

ATeacherFromFlorida (Tallahassee, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let's Stay Friends (Audio CD)

Rumors were in the air about Les Savy Fav's demise, but fortunately they've returned to deliver their first full-length CD of brand new material in several years. Even better news: it's a contender for their best yet.

Let's Stay Friends finds the band expanding upon their signature sound. If there's a common thread on the album, it's how it appropriates some tropes of mid-80s and 90s indie music and updates them into the sound of Les Savy Fav. And what's that sound? A little bit of the Pixies, a dash of Fugazi, some PIL, a tad of Six Finger Satellite. Well, the list of subtle influences go on, but Les Savy Fab own them, and make them original.

To me, this sounds like a logical continuation from Go Forth, though that record came out several years ago. It bears more resemblance to that record, in my opinion, than it does to Inches, their compilation from a few years ago.

Most of the twelve tracks feature some of the band's best material yet. Harrington sounds just as unhinged as ever. And the songs veer in unexpected but melodic directions. Sometimes, it seems like LSF squeeze a few songs into one. And their tradmark codas are there---what they've always done best.

Standouts are The Year Before the Year 2000, The Lowest Bitter (one of their best songs ever), Scotchguard the Credit Card, and Kiss Kiss is Getting Old. The album only misses the mark on a few occasions (the tepid, mostly acoustic (!) number "Comes and Goes." Still, they're trying new things, and it's not entirely out of place on this record.

In short: one of the best albums of the year. I hope LSF sticks around and makes more records, even if we have to wait 5 or 6 years to hear the next.

3.0 out of 5 stars They have my respect, June 24, 2011

By 

Scott B. Saul "opinionated, yet truthful, mu... (COOPER CITY, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Let's Stay Friends (Audio CD)

These guys are real artists trying to push the envelope with artistry. A fair comparison would be to them to what "Public Image Limited" was doing in the 1970's (I hate Johnny Lydon, but I love the musicians and what they were doing with dub).

This music is not easy to digest but this stuff is the real deal. These guys are true artists pushing emotion and angst, a strong sense of funky rhythm, angular instrumental lines and a ton of attitude into music that can be challenging yet also is, for the most part, pretty accessible. "Patty Lee' is the highlight.