From the history lesson of "Let The Sunlight In" and on to the pulsing Devo-ish "Paid Disappearance", SAVAK seem to be firing on all cylinders here in 2024. The band, full of guys who were in a bunch of other bands, have punched up their sound a bit, and the new record seems one of their very best. Flavors of Paradise is just that punchy and concise.
Lots of Flavors of Paradise has an urgency that suggests Sohrab Habibion's other band, the fierce Zwei Null Zwei, and that's a good thing, I think. "The New New Age" seems of a piece with era peers Girls Against Boys, and that comparison with that band's stuff is a useful one for those coming to SAVAK fresh. Still, the more spacious "What is It Worth" finds the coiled tension of SAVAK's best material replaced with an almost furtive restlessness. The track has a hint of Fables of the Reconstruction about it, which is to say it's dense but full of lyrical guitar-lines. SAVAK manage to edge outside their usual lanes here, while retaining the kind of spark that has made every one of their releases so vital.
Flavors of Paradise works up a nice head of steam, and there's a sleekness here that is less a production effect, and more an intentional sharpening of focus. SAVAK don't waste any time on any track with anything superfluous, and the whole album surges forward with real momentum, with notable work from drummer Matt Schulz (Lake Ruth) in holding this together. Still, on numbers like "Will Get Fooled Again", there's some space for something less fever-pitched. SAVAK engage with the kind of post-punk that inspires. Not necessarily heavy, this is meaty stuff, with real heft to it, even as, in terms of SAVAK's catalog, Flavors of Paradise sounds like one of their leanest and meanest records in ages.
Flavors of Paradise by SAVAK is out this Friday.
[Photo: Taylor Sesselman]