Austin – Watching Savages perform live is a necessary, energizing experience, a group bringing together the powerful guitar riffs of Gemma Thompson and invigorating percussive sounds from Fay Milton. Frontwoman Jehnny Beth leads the group with a strong, deep vocal component, sharing lyrics that are dark and simple, but never alienating to listeners. The fast tempo and heavy bass from Ayse Hassan gives the music an edgy, almost esoteric feel, but it is still approachable and inviting to the indie rock crowd of Austin City Limits. A highly anticipated show at the festival this year, which covered two weekends for the first time in its 11-year history, the London-based femme-rockers drew a large audience for a 1pm performance at one of ACL’s main stages. Their set was the perfect introduction for me, to a group whose genre feels difficult to define, and had the audience head-bobbing and foot-stomping to tunes that have received significant critical acclaim this year. Many call it post-punk, while the group’s mission statement reads that they are a “self-affirming voice to help experience our girlfriends, our husbands, our jobs, our erotic life, and the place music occupies in our lives differently.”

At the festival they played music off their debut album, Silence Yourself (released in May 2013 on Matador Records), declaring their presence at ACL with “I Am Here,” a drum-heavy intro that takes a turn as we are introduced to Beth’s unique, wide-ranging vocal talent. The tempo quickens, the audience is invited to bounce around, and the set is off to a powerful start. They went on to perform much of the other songs off Silence Yourself, an aptly titled album that refers to, among other ideas, the group’s stance against audience members practicing cell phone-ography throughout performances. The set included guitar-heavy “City’s Full,” “I Need Something New,” and one of the group’s original singles released in 2012, “Flying to Berlin.” Savages wrapped up with “Husbands,” the major single off their debut album—fast, grungy and very danceable—and concluded with “Fuckers,” reminding us not to “let the fuckers bring you down,” a message well received by festival-goers.

The group has a fantastic stage presence, with simple black outfits that do not distract the audience from the artists’ awesome talent. Although Beth does jump around the stage on hot pink pumps, which also make an appearance in their “I Am Here” music video.

Savages’ presence at ACL was part of a strong showing of female rock acts this year, including HAIM, Lissie, MS MR, Grimes and droves of female frontwomen. Although we weren’t lucky enough to have a female headliner this year, the strong numbers alone was great to see.

Savages’ debut album reached number 19 on the UK Albums Chart in May and the group won a Mercury Award for the album.

For more on Savages go HERE, HERE and HERE

Photo Bv Greg Chow

Thumbnail By Misha Vladimirskiy