Les Savy Fav at Capitol Hill Block Party 2008
photo by Christopher Nelson
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists. Today’s selection, featured on the Midday Show with Cheryl Waters, is “Let’s Get Out of Here” by Les Savy Fav from their 2010 album Root For Ruin (released yesterday) on Frenchkiss Records.
Today’s Song of the Day, “Let’s Get Out of Here” is the lead single from NYC indie showstoppers Les Savy Fav’s recently released 5th studio album, Root to Ruin. I won’t bore you with a long-winded history of the band’s sound –- as it is my assumption you’re at least somewhat familiar with their raucous beginnings in Rhode Island, line-up changes (original drummer Pat Mahoney of LCD Soundsystem and guitarist Glib Slife left after the debut), and stage madness. Lead singer and frontman Tim Harrington is well known for his wild costume changes and crowd interaction. Three summers ago after just recently moving to Seattle, I saw Harrington wear a king’s crown and a diaper and climb a Capitol Hill street sign –- all on his way to destroying it at my first ever Block Party (then I almost got in a fight with a bunch of Vampire Weekend jocks, but that’s a whole different story).
“Let’s Get Out of Here” is the pot of gold at the end of Les Savy Fav’s double rainbow path from art-rock punk dealers to breakout indie hitsters. For all intents and purposes, the song is a simple jam, in lyrical content and structure -- this is not a thinking man’s tune. That’s not a diss at all; I just mean you’ll like the song without needing to dissect it. This is perhaps partially due to a conscious decision by the band to write their new album in the vain of lifelong influences like Pavement, David Berman and Superchunk. Quite a few guest musicians join the ranks to ratchet up the Root to Ruin excitement, including Eleanor Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces), Nicholas Thorburn (Islands, Unicorns), every member of ENON, and even SNL’s Fred Armisen adds a few drum tracks. With inspirations/contributions like these and the drive to rip apart your face live, Les Savy Fav’s reign of terror is sure to continue for years and years and years and years to come.
Currently, Les Savy Fav have only a few shows lined up for the rest of the year, in places like Montreal, Boston and Berlin, but hopefully they’ll be touring the new album soon enough. Check their MySpace page for more details. For now, here they are performing today’s Song of the Day at LA’s Echoplex back in May:
One Comment
There’s something really special about this song, simple and direct. Love these guys