Savage Mansion (UK)

Bio provided by artist:
Prolific garage rock group Savage Mansion incorporate influences as diverse as The Byrds, Sly and the Family Stone and Stereolab on their excellent fourth album The Shakes, a stoned meditation on the chaos of the pandemic years that grapples with the power of memory and reckons with the animal inside us all.

Recorded live to tape with minimal overdubs at Analogue Catalogue Studios in County Down, The Shakes is Savage Mansion’s most exciting record yet – a set of 11 songs which better than ever capture the explosive live energy of a band whose best gig is always their next gig, rooted in a deep well of emotion, and the rigorously thought-through reasoning of writers thoroughly in love with their influences.

Opener ‘Myths Persist’ orbits a rakish groove inspired by Sly and the Family Stone, and draws lyrics from among other unlikely places the Bible (“what’s it there for if not that?”). ‘In The Garden’ continues the spiritual tip with a song “about the forbidden fruit and why we’re compelled to take it”, and features more tightly interlocking guitars that fast become a signature of The Shakes. ‘There Goes My Habit’ is a meditation on aging drawing inspiration from the poetry of Dave Berman and the esoteric pop of Arthur Russell. The album’s title track is one of the most unusual songs the band have written to date, an “insistent, driven, borderline danceable thing,” as Craig describes it, with shimmering synth lines that reveal a lot of the fresh input and energy new member Adam Forbes brought to the group. “Despite not considering himself a keys player,” says Andrew, “he had a lot of insight into parts and seemed really at home raiding Julie’s amazing collection of vintage synths, organs and keyboards.” 

Adam’s playing further elevates another of The Shakes undisputed standouts ‘Total Colombia’ – originally a spiky garage rock number that was progressively re-written with input from the whole band until it sounded like “a confluence of ‘Lo Boob Oscillator’ by Stereolab, ‘Spiders/Kidsmoke’ by Wilco and the original ‘Total Columbia’ by Savage Mansion,” says Craig. Closer ‘The Second Life’ – “a sad song about a relationship that has to end even though neither party wants it to”– was very nearly just guitars and vocals, until an eleventh-hour decision was taken to drop the whole band in for a last loose and swaying jam before sundown. The perfect end to a record full of authenticity and feeling.

Bio provided by artist:
Prolific garage rock group Savage Mansion incorporate influences as diverse as The Byrds, Sly and the Family Stone and Stereolab on their excellent fourth album The Shakes, a stoned meditation on the chaos of the pandemic years that grapples with the power of memory and reckons with the animal inside us all.

Recorded live to tape with minimal overdubs at Analogue Catalogue Studios in County Down, The Shakes is Savage Mansion’s most exciting record yet – a set of 11 songs which better than ever capture the explosive live energy of a band whose best gig is always their next gig, rooted in a deep well of emotion, and the rigorously thought-through reasoning of writers thoroughly in love with their influences.

Opener ‘Myths Persist’ orbits a rakish groove inspired by Sly and the Family Stone, and draws lyrics from among other unlikely places the Bible (“what’s it there for if not that?”). ‘In The Garden’ continues the spiritual tip with a song “about the forbidden fruit and why we’re compelled to take it”, and features more tightly interlocking guitars that fast become a signature of The Shakes. ‘There Goes My Habit’ is a meditation on aging drawing inspiration from the poetry of Dave Berman and the esoteric pop of Arthur Russell. The album’s title track is one of the most unusual songs the band have written to date, an “insistent, driven, borderline danceable thing,” as Craig describes it, with shimmering synth lines that reveal a lot of the fresh input and energy new member Adam Forbes brought to the group. “Despite not considering himself a keys player,” says Andrew, “he had a lot of insight into parts and seemed really at home raiding Julie’s amazing collection of vintage synths, organs and keyboards.” 

Adam’s playing further elevates another of The Shakes undisputed standouts ‘Total Colombia’ – originally a spiky garage rock number that was progressively re-written with input from the whole band until it sounded like “a confluence of ‘Lo Boob Oscillator’ by Stereolab, ‘Spiders/Kidsmoke’ by Wilco and the original ‘Total Columbia’ by Savage Mansion,” says Craig. Closer ‘The Second Life’ – “a sad song about a relationship that has to end even though neither party wants it to”– was very nearly just guitars and vocals, until an eleventh-hour decision was taken to drop the whole band in for a last loose and swaying jam before sundown. The perfect end to a record full of authenticity and feeling.