Album Review: Savages - Silence Yourself

In The Birthday Party's 'King Ink', Nick Cave screams "Say something/Express yourself/Say something loudly", an introspective call to create something relevant, to cut through the bullshit and do something that matters. Savages' message - shut up, silence yourself - sounds like a 180-degree turn from Cave’s post punk ethos, but the message is really the same. The band's website features industrial but poetic words speaking against the noise of modern life and all it's relentless distractions. They ask concertgoers to silence their phones, immerse themselves in live shows. It’s one example of how our attention is becoming more and more fractured, and one that has become clearly visible over the last few years. This is a band here to make a point; their manifesto states "This album is to be played loud and in the foreground" - I think that's a pretty good place to begin.

Click here to continue reading our review of Savages debut album Silence Yourself.