Savages @ The Independent, San Francisco, 27 September 2013

The guitarist sounds like Andy Gill and has a haircut that is precisely half way between Will Sergeant and John McGeoch. The singer sounds like Siouxsie and dresses like Ian Curtis. Like millions of others I like the Savages because they sound like those old bands I used to like. It is possible that they were grown in vats by evil geniuses attempting to create the ideal NME band. For half this gig they are merely good, but a cover of Suicide's Dream Baby Dream gets the crowd to start moving and the band feeds on this to somehow get even more intense. Only a few people broke the ban on using cellphones which helped the atmosphere. All Savages need to do now is write some more songs, and decide whether to be aloof or friendly on stage. I liked the drummer, who seemed to be actually enjoying herself, and even threw in a few rock moves. Overall this was pretty good.