Pitchfork

Marnie Christenson & Eric Marth report:
OMFG! Is America's craziest art-punk quartet, Les Savy Fav, ever cookin' up some special goodness for you this spring! We're so excited we want to just blurt it right out, but you gotta know the backstory so just give us a second to get to the meat. As previously reported by your friends here at the Fork, those noisy mongrels have been working hard for a while now on an elaborate series of seven-inches, the plan being that they would release nine of the things over the course of a three-year period. What's awesome (besides the fuckin' music, obviously) is that each of the seven-inches' covers serve as a puzzle piece, and when you collect all nine and put 'em together, it forms a super-secret message that requires no further decoding.

Now, presently, the band is on the fifth seven-inch in the series. Featuring songs titled "Yawn Yawn Yawn" and "Two Way Widow", the rekkit was originally scheduled to drop on January 20th, but when the test-pressing came out with some production flaws, it got scooted back. NYC's Tiger Style Records, who's putting the thing out, has now assigned it a March 4th street date.

Alright, but the really good part is yet to come. Brace yourself: Frenchkiss Records, the label owned by Les Sav Fav's own Syd Butler, has announced plans to release The Les Savy Fav 7" Collection on compact disc later this year! This 18-song compendium will feature the A and B sides off all the singles, which so far have been released on labels as diverse as Sub Pop, Desoto, X-mist, The Self-Starter Foundation, and Tiger Style-- hell, one was even released by that playa-hatin' Chunklet magazine all the hipsters adore. T'was a split with David Cross (and it's only available with the purchase of the brand new 17th issue and an extra four bucks act now quantities are limited etc etc).

The remaining songs will be performed and fine tuned on the road, and released as part of the collection, as well as on 7" vinyl. The labels hosting the last three releases are Monitor, Suicide Squeeze, and Cold Crush. It's also worth noting that Cold Crush is co-owned by Derek Fudesco of Pretty Girls Make Graves, and has some of the wackiest artwork on the planet.

And dudes: The Salvy Calves are even gearing up to Kris Kross these United States in the Spring-- even going so far as to acknowledge the existence of cities between Chicago and L.A. Kudos, gents! For the first leg of the tour, they'll be playing with new labelmates S Process, while they'll be hooking up with Omaha's very own electro-goth powerhouses The Faint for the second leg. No word yet on a possible third leg, but if one springs up, it's sure to be long, hard, and throbbing with red hot rock. Meistro, the dates, please:

with S Process:
03-21 Providence, RI - The Met
03-22 Providence, RI - The Met
04-04 Buffalo, NY - The Showplace Theatre
04-05 Pittsburgh, PA - The Rex Theatre
04-06 Detroit, MI - The Magic Stick
04-07 Columbus, OH - The Factory Lounge
04-08 Chicago, IL - The Empty Bottle
04-09 St. Paul, MN - The Turf Club
04-10 Grinnell, IA - Grinell College Gardner Lounge

with The Faint and Schneider TM:
04-11 Omaha, NE - Sokol Auditorium
04-12 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
04-15 Seattle, WA - Showbox
04-16 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
04-18 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore
04-19 Pomona, CA - TBA
04-20 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
04-21 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
04-22 San Diego, CA - The Scene
04-25 Dallas, TX - Trees Lounge
04-26 Houston, TX - Numbers
04-27 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
04-30 Tampa, FL - TBA
05-01 Miami, FL - TBA
05-02 Orlando, FL - TBA
05-06 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
05-07 Carrboro, NC - Cats Cradle
05-08 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
05-09 Philadelphia. PA - TBA
05-10 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
05-11 Boston, MA - The Roxy
05-12 New York, NY - Irving Plaza