Les Savy Fav Let's Stay Friends CD

New York indie rockers Les Savy Fav returned from a couple of years of self-imposed exile with their fourth full-length, LET'S STAY FRIENDS, which pretty much picks up right where they left off. Their invigorating, visceral-yet-cerebral brand of Wire-influenced art-punk-cum-modern-rock is still full of left-field lyrical sensibilities, hellbent rhythms, and knotty guitar riffs. If anything, their attack is more refined and focused here, serving both the head and the body in equal measure.

Brooklyn indie rockers return from hiatus in 2007 with most realized album to date.

Audio Mixer: Chris Zane.

Recording information: 11/2006-04/2007.

Illustrator: Tim Harrington.

Les Savy Fav: Syd Butler (bass guitar); Harrison Haynes (drums); Seth Jabour, Tim Harrington.

Personnel: Tim Harrington, Eleanor Friedberger, John Schmersal, Toko Yasuda (vocals); Seth Jabour, Andrew Reuland (guitar); Emily Haines (piano); Chris Zane, Harrison Haynes, Fred Armisen (drums).

Additional personnel: Nicholas Thorburn, Catherine Herrick (vocals); Aleah Robinson (violin); Anawim "Nawi" Avila (saxophone); Adelquis E. Salom (trumpet); Jason B. Silva (trombone); Fred Armisen, Matt Shulz, Joe Plummer (drums); Stephanie Rizzo, Devendra, Drew Price, Ian Rolfe-Redding, PJ Sykes, Paul Pedersen, Tim Cushing, Riley Knistel, Aaron Azlant, Gregory Finch, Ryan Lee, Byron Brown, Chris Nash, Michael Scott (background vocals); Chris Zane, Amy Carlson, Emily Haines, Eleanor Friedberger, John Schmersal, Toko Yasuda.

Rolling Stone (p.85) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[Harrington] doesn't' disappoint here, with werewolf howls and party chants, plunging through political turmoil with his usual humor..."
Rolling Stone (p.110) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Top Albums of the Year 2007" -- "[T]rue tunes undergird angular noise."
Spin (p.106) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[I]nvigorating....[With] an unfakeable impetuous fervor."
Entertainment Weekly (p.82) - "The group is malevolent and charming at once, still a beguiling combo..." -- Grade: A-
Uncut (p.116) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]his is a band who manage to conjure an anthemic chorus out of the unlikeliest material....[T]he best music of their career. It's a welcome return, to say the least."
Alternative Press (p.160) - "4.5 stars out of 5 -- "They retain some of the tightly wound post-punk angularity they've always favored and even bust a bit of old-school punk, but the real advances are melodic."
Magnet (p.101) - "This heady mix of stratospheric rockers and inventive, smart and slyly revolutionary lyrics yields Les Savy Fav's best album yet."
Kerrang (Magazine) (p.57) - "Songs like 'Patty Lee' and 'What Would Wolves Do?' combine exquisite swathes of guitar with the odd burst of abrasive noise..."