New York indie rocker Les Savy Fav have today released their sixth studio album, OUI, LSF.
Out on Frenchkiss Records, the label owned by Les Savy Fav bassist Syd Butler, OUI, LSF is the band’s first release in 14 years. Recorded in lead singer Tim Harrington’s Brooklyn attic, it’s an album that “…grew organically — literally and figuratively,” according to Harrington.
When discussing the gap between 2010’s Root for Ruin and now, Harrington says: “When we finished our last record, there was a sense that if we were going to do more, we wanted to do something more ambitious. I think it took us a while to even get in a space where that was possible.”
Over the years, the band has continued to perform on their own terms. But after a performance at Primavera in 2022, they caught the proverbial songwriting bug once more and started sharing demos, jamming in Harrington’s attic, and recording music. At first, they had no intention of recording an album; they were playing music, not writing it. “The last record was a lot about holding on,” Butler says, “OUI, LSF is the sound of release — no map, no preconceptions, no self-righteous certainty.”
Photo Credit: Nick Helderman
The resulting album is a mash of tragedy and comedy done in a way only Les Savy Fav could do. Album opener “Guzzle Blood” drops us in at the deep end and set the tone for the rest of the 14-song suite. “It opens with just a total disillusion — a loss of faith, frustration, anguish,” Harrington says of the song, which speaks of demons haunting your sleep and the battle for salvation.
“Legendary Tippers”, another single released, swans in on a wave of toe-tapping swarm. “It’s got a Laissez-faire swagger that probably would’ve caused us to outsmart ourselves in the past,” Harrington says. “The guitars are literally a stack of scratch tracks we decided sounded great without edits. To me, it sounds like the solo from ‘Taxman’ wolfed down a bottle of Adderall.”
OUI, LSF ends with “World Got Great,” a tune that feels like it’s coming apart at the seams in the best possible way. A bookend of faith to the disillusionment of album opener “Guzzle Blood,” the song aims to sum up where the band is today and where it hopes to go. “I’ve always felt like a late bloomer,” Harrington says before quoting the song, “What luck not to bloom sooner.”
And so it is. OUI, LSF, an album 14 years in waiting, reminds us of the power Les Savy fav possess. The band is still growing, of course, much like their musical range, like the seeds that grew into their album art, like the hope that someday they can say: “We were there when the world got great, we helped to make it that way!”
More on Les Savy Fav
Les Savy Fav are renowned for their live shows and you can grab tickets to their current tour here.
You can also pick up a copy of OUI, LSF on the band’s website as well as merch.
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