Send "Gay Blades, The " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Absolutepunk |
 Rock and Roll use to be about breaking all the rules and disobeying anything and everything. Nowadays it’s about who can squeeze into the tightest jeans and rack up facebook fans. So it’s head turning when you come across a band that simply doesn’t give a fuck. The Gay Blades are that band, and they have taken punching you in the mouth to another level. Clark Westfield and Puppy Mills are kicking ass and taking names without a cause and it’s never felt so good.Their second album, Savages is anything but a slump. More like the surprise album of the year. For those who are expecting a Ghosts Pt. Deux, go search else where. The band has expanded on their trash-pop core and have developed and progressed into one of the most solid two pieces in music. “Rock N’ Roll (Part I)” starts Savages off with bang delivering some of the grungiest undertones throughout the album. Complete with in your face riffs and screams, The Gay Blades come at you harder then ever, letting you know they are a force to be reckoned with. The first single, “Try To Understand” follows showing the up scaling of the band with the new, full sound including the addition of horns to the chorus. The stadium swagger continues with “Mick Jagger” which has the sass and punch to be played on rock radio stations world wide. “Why Winter in Detroit” has been kicking around for awhile in the band’s live show and their DVD release, but the new and improved studio version packs more bite than Barq’s. The band shows some experimentation with “November Fight Song” and “Too Cool To Quit” implementing some strings and new tones that show the band’s ability to diversify without skipping a beat. The album continues to impress and never miss throughout it’s 40 minute running time. It comes to a stunning end with “Every Night Is Like A Revival” where the band’s talent come front and center, mixing the best of Ghosts and Savages to create the picture perfect ending, demanding a curtain call....full text |
| Ramonosaurusrexx |
| The near omni-genre punk/pop/blues/thrash/garage/indie/alternative rock duo from New York, otherwise known as the Gay Blades‘ sophomore album, Savages, is a musical testimony to the band’s rise to popularity. Whether it’s how the aforementioned genres are simultaneously coherent and influentially significant in Savages to how one wouldn’t find it hard to connect on an emotional level with the Gay Blades with vocalist, Clark Westfield’s soulful delivery and Puppy Mills’ instrumental expertise. Savages’ irresistible appeal lies in the duo’s talent at penning one heck of a good song, listen to Mick Jagger or lead single, Try To Understand and the Gay Blades’ skill at songwriting will reveal itself. From the get go, the Gay Blades’ musical competence is evident: the album’s punchy opener, the 60’s punk of Rock N’ Roll (Part 1) deals a heavy dose of in-your-face attitude while in contrast, the horn-backed jazz-pop rhythm of Try To Understand are an excellent pitch at the band’s catchier side reminiscent of their debut album, 2008’s Ghosts. Savages, unlike the pop-y, anthemic Ghosts, explores the deeper regions of the Gay Blades musicality, seeing the band delve into darker waters with more mature lyrical content and tracks with cleaner and fine-tuned arrangements. The Gay Blades’ genre-transcending style is probably what sets the band apart from the crowd, their songwriting proficiency an added bonus. It’s a blend of blue collar punk with the earthiness of alternative garage rock, flavored with pop melodies and indie flourishes. Yes, it does sound like a recipe, but it is a formula for some very good music. This concoction of genres is something the Gay Blades are adept at doing, putting together simple and extremely likable melodies with structured, well-devised beats and rhythms and finishing it off with down-to-earth and emotive, affecting vocals. Their musicality expresses itself in the tracks on Savages; the balladry on Every Night Is Like A Revival and the rocking blues on Too Cool To Quit show the Gay Blades’ ease in subjecting music to the band’s will. The fact that in the span of just over 40 minutes, the Gay Blades manage to make you feel melancholy, joy, pain and sudden urge to break into song and dance is a proof of their exceptional talent in crafting music–good music, mind you....full text |
| Consequenceofsound |
| As a sonic universe in and of itself, today’s blues-rock has yielded two especially interesting dichotomies: the bizarro fairy tales of demon women from The Dead Weather and the working man grunge and heartache of The Black Keys. But while both live in the same decrepit, battered home on opposing ends of different floors, there lies space in between the floorboards for a genetic cousin in The Gay Blades. With their dirty boots planted in the ground and their guitar-laden brains in the clouds, the band’s sophomore album Savages represents an unseen musical concept in the dark, heavy jungle of modern blues-rock: bona fide pop music. That pop music feel is best exemplified in a kind of naïve abandonment as opposed to the more sullen disgrace or out and out fury of some of their contemporaries. The height of that abandonment is hit early in the album with “Try To Understand”, a sax-heavy track that burns with the rock and roll energy of some revival in a backwoods town or an Anywhere, USA senior prom, with all the intensity and heartache and confusion and utter thrill that goes along with the panicked, sweat-soaked epiphanies. But that doesn’t mean they can’t develop beyond the initial flash-in-the-pan appeal. “Wasted on the Youth” has a bit of the afterglow of that youthful energy; it wallows in an acoustic glory, drenched in vocals of pure defeat, creating a balance between some of the down-home elements and the pomp and circumstance of Top 40. But in terms of a balance between the two, “Burns and Shakes” should draw a lot of attention. It’s a slow start, but by the ending barrage of jamming guitars and distorted wailing, they’ve given you a roundhouse kick to remind you they’re not just about gooey emotions; these boys can rock....full text |
Gay Blades, The lyrics
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