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Starting with acclaimed English band Savages's second album out of necessity, I can't assess evolution or expectations, but judging from the grating, mechanical attack of "The Answer," the band has a sound to be reckoned with. It's easy to see why reviews compare the band to Siouxsie Sioux, mostly due to Jehnny Beth's deliberate vocal delivery, though I hear obvious parallels to one of the wonders of the previous decade, NYC's Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Though Adore Life is a much warmer-sounding record than the garage punk of Fever To Tell and Beth's composed chants contrast with Karen O's bluesy hollers, both bands' minimal but energetic (usually frenetic) arrangements of angular riffs and the inclusion of a charismatic front-woman are certainly shared traits, exemplified on up-tempo tracks including "Evil," "Sad Person," and "When In Love." The comparison breaks down on the almost Big Black "T.I.W.Y.G." (this is what you get when you mess with love) and the spacey disco "Surrender", which resembles what YYYs morphed into on later albums, but the slower songs are the most interesting ones if also the more divisive. The best is the quietly strutting "Slowing Down The World,"**** in which each verse concluded with infectious tremolo bends. The somber closing track "Mechanics" channels the menacing, spectral atmosphere that Nick Cave has been creating on recent albums, but with little melodic and lyrical content, while quasi-title song "Adore" is a surprisingly conventional slow swing time ballad. All have an engaging sound, but at the risk of throwing around references to YYYs too much, unfortunately none compare to their heartbreaking "Maps"; because for all Savages's fury, energy, attitude, and poise, Beth's vocal melodies frequently sound awkward or arbitrary, a flaw that keeps otherwise strong material from being powerful or ultimately memorable.
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