This was a new name to me, but it appears this is their second album. Also, the band consists of some semi-known people. Suburban Savages was formed in Oslo as long back as in 2007 as a solo project of Trond Gjellum who needed an umbrella to record songs that did not fit into his other band Panzerpappa. Thomas Meidell (of The Samuel Jackson Five, Mt. Mélodie) quickly became involved as a composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist, and Anders K. Krabberřd also from Panzerpappa joined in on bass guitar. These three became the core of Suburban Savages. A few other members came and left until in 2017, Mari Lesteberg (Fraction Distraction) joined on keyboards and vocals. The same year they came with their debut album, Kore Wa! (released as Apollon ARP005CD/LP). Now, here is the second which was recorded during 2019 and 2020. Normally, I do not pay too much attention to lyrics, but there was something here that caught my attention and some of them are quite interesting. The info sheet accompanying the album tells me: “The four years since the release of Kore Wa!, has been a time of change, and a time of words. Lots of words. Even though we live in an age of information, it seems that we increasingly live in an age of babble, misinformation, and elephant talk. People talking without having anything to say, lacking the ability to keep quiet. Demagogue Days is an album about communication. While not being a concept album, the lyrics thematically deal with communication and the lack of it on many levels.” Musically, one could categorize them somewhere between modern art-rock (Coldplay and the like), neo prog and synthpop. Opener Aroused And Confused reminds me in some aspects of poppier tracks by French electronica group Air, or of Norwegian countrymen Röyksopp. In the second half, however, they take a decidedly progressive rock turn with sounds and moods that remind of Yes. It's a long track, but the eight minutes are over before you know it! Taciturnity opens rhythmic and then adds a major dash of synths and keys that will please most progheads. There is a tiny part that reminds of the percussion/bells from Rush's Xanadu in there. Intentional or accident? Then the vocals - male and female combined - come in dominating the piece (except a few bars of Gentle Giant-like keys). Interesting lyrics, the word taciturnity is a way to describe the quality of people who do not reveal much information for a number of reasons. Then a floating distorted guitar takes us away before we come back to another Gentle Giant-like bit and then some upbeat symphonic prog, including widdly-keys. The title track is a relative short piece that reminds me of 1980s art-pop with vocals that might be influenced by Frank Zappa. More great lyrics. Also, there is a chorus that will stick in your mind for days in a row, like it or not. Iconoclast clearly draws on Gentle Giant. Those vocal patterns are just uncanny like this progressive rock legend (I was not surprised to see some Gentle Giant on Mari Lesteberg's YouTube channel!). Under Mirrored Skies provides a feast for neo prog lovers. Those keys and guitars battling things out: just great! Closer The Silence Afterwards is a very uplifting piece of music. A shame that it fades out in a bit monotone way instead of having a proper ending, but perhaps there is a symbolic message in that? Anyway, I'm reachíng for the replay button! Demagogue Days is available as CD and LP in common black and as a limited edition blue vinyl version. ****- Carsten Busch (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
