I've written about Les Savy Fav before when I wrote about their album Go Forth here. That post includes all the details about how I was introduced to them by the means of a comparison on Paper Chase cd, and how they ended up introducing me to a girl when I was living in Australia, having first seen her wearing a Les Savy Fav t-shirt.
Les Savy Fav have become a live favourite of mine over the years - they never fail to put on an excellent live show, even if their most recent albums have done less for me. They've been disappeared for quite a while now, which is a shame because I definitely feel like I need another fix of them in person.
I got this copy of the Rome EP from my parents one Christmas - they'd asked if there was any music I wanted and I listed out a few albums with the usual line of "vinyl if possible, cds otherwise" and from somewhere this 12" arrived (I assume Amazon, but don't know for sure). Anyway, it was a nice surprise (anything 12" and square under the Christmas tree is always a good surprise).
I'd only heard Inches and Let's Stay Friends at this point so was very excited to hear some more Les Savy Fav. I. C. Timer is a huge opener but Asleepers Union dominates side A - the song is mostly intro, but it's perfectly paced build up to a brilliantly short climax. In These Woods has a slightly strange electronic intro, but quickly falls into memorable art-punk Les Savy Fav and Hide Me From Next February features some excellent semi-spoken lyrics and one of the heaviest choruses. Rome closes the EP after a mere 17 minutes with some great angular guitar work and a layered outro. All-in-all, it's a great selection of songs and a very strong release. A few months later I dug further into their back catalogue with Go Forth and 3/5 and much more recently I picked up a copy of Rome on cd for £1 in a second-hand shop (which means I finally have mp3s of the EP).
Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 5
Cost: Free, new
Bought: Gift
When: 25/12/07
Colour: Black
Etching: None
mp3s: No
