Savior is an album about the grief that someone deals with after a break up. This isn’t a new concept. But the way that Savior slowly shows its true cards is something that feels unique. The album unfolds in something like a three act play, which is incredibly ambitious considering it is around 25 minutes long. It’s an album filled with simple and infectious songs with relate-able lyrics. It’s a great glimpse into much of the good things that are happening in rock music right now.
The first four tracks contain rejection, denial, and hatred. Savior‘s narrator rejects the person they secretly miss. There is still a definite feeling of pain on these first four songs, but it’s more full of piss and ugliness compared to the rest of the album. The standout track among them is the spiteful “California Girls.” If you look at the song at face value it seems like a misogynistic take down on the concept of the “California girl” of Beach Boys and countless others’ lore. But in this context it reeks of envy. This is a narrator that has admitted that they feel nothing, envious of how the girls he speaks of can do the same thing and not feel the regret he is trying so hard to hide. It is in essence a pathetic song, which makes it infinitely more interesting than what it looks like on the surface. It’s also pretty damn catchy too.
The second piece of Savior is something of a break instead of a true act. “Tesla” in particular is the one song on the album that feels like a miss. It just doesn’t have a place in the scheme of the album. It sounds more like something that would be used in a musical portion of Bob’s Burgers (it evens mentions horses. Shout out to my girl Tina!). The most important part of the second half is “This is Living.” It’s a beautifully constructed song about the monotony of any job that requires you to sit around all day in a cubicle (although I think it can apply to almost any sit down job). The minutiae described is completely spot on. And who doesn’t love a reference to a “show last night where everyone got shot” considering the final episode of a certain program that recently aired? “This is Living” is also important because it begins to show the honesty of the narrator.
After the first third of the album so vehemently tried to deny any pain, the final third is a complete emotional breakdown. The standout here is the completely stripped down “Wither.” “Wither” may in truth be the most important song on Savior, simply because it isn’t a rollicking old fashioned rock and roll song. It shows an almost confusingly intimate side and ends up making you feel kind of bad for the album’s voice, who has seemed like kind of jerk up until now. There is some particularly devastating lyrics in here. Without this song, I’m not sure the album even holds together.
With the exception of “Whither” the album sticks to a pretty simple rock formula. But minimalism in not only rock but several genres is big right now, and I’m a big fan of it. It allows for the songs to speak for themselves without trying to hide any deficiencies with gimmicks. Savior relies on its pace and simple yet effective lyrics to succeed, and that is what I loved most about it. It’s short, to the point, and excellent. There is no excuse for anyone to skip it.
Review by Justin Owlett. Follow him on Twitter at @JustOwle.
