So, a few weeks back I discussed a band called Evan Brightly that's got a person's name, but is actually five people. This week, meet Lisa Savidge, an act that sounds like it's a woman, but is actually four dudes.
And what else is Lisa Savidge? According to their MySpace, the band is:
- A postmodern rock band from AZ
- Frequently mistaken for an actual person
- Funded by blood money
- Guaranteed to make you look 10 years younger
Just how postmodern are they? Well, either very or, umm, not. From their bio:
To begin, these songs were never meant for public consumption. Not at first, anyway. It all started in Iraq, where everyone who was around agreed that I was either the most or least lucky fellow in the whole country. On the one hand, I had this uncanny knack for getting myself attacked, and saw more than my fair share of action. On the other hand, I also had this uncanny ability for walking away without a scratch. Or so it seemed. It turns out that there are no winners in war, and burying that many bodies takes its own kind of toll. One day, as I struggled to deal with these demons, a friend of mine produced an acoustic guitar and proceeded to play me a song he had written. The proverbial light bulb went on.
So, yeah. We'll set all that aside and take a listen to their record Stolen Sound.
Opening with a little finger picking and a distorted bass line on "Victory," the band sounds mature, and when vocalist Dan Somers gets a little more emotional about two minutes in, that impression grows stronger.
The second song was my favorite. "Nightmare" is a garage-y quasi-cover of Simple Minds' "Don't You Forget About Me" with a nice fuzzy feel.
Things bog down a little more in the middle of the record. "Swept Along" starts with a nice riff, but never really gets me, while "Surf Machine" is a brooding acoustic number that's a little too fast to create the intensity I'd like to hear. It also shows the album's biggest weakness, subpar production that leaves everything sounding a little muddy, with occasionally tinny vocals ("Finding Jesus").
Things pick up a little more at the end of the record, though, with "90 Pills," a pop-punker with a nice little "oooooOOOoo" leading in to the refrain. It's a very catchy song that, with better production values, could really be a standout.
Despite some technical setbacks, and a loss of momentum midway through, I was pretty impressed with Stolen Sound. Lisa Savidge has a great sound and well-tuned pop sensibilities and has put together a great first record. -- Martin Cizmar
