Review
Amora Savant
The Immaculate Misconception

Volatile Productions (2005) Kevin Fitzpatrick

Amora Savant – The Immaculate Misconception cover artwork
Amora Savant – The Immaculate Misconception — Volatile Productions, 2005

Sometimes, perspective is a good thing. There's not always time to gain significant perspective, but when you do have the time, it makes an informed decision well, all that more informed. When I first played Amora Savant's The Immaculate Misconception, I didn't like it. So I played it a second time to, you know, gain some of that perspective thingy we were talking about and guess what? I liked it even less.

This didn't bode well. Believe it or not, I don't like to write bad reviews. It's easy to say something sucks. The "critic" world is full of people trying to out-pith each other and be the next Dorothy Parker or David Cross. It's always easier to say something's shit, rather than explain why it's good. But just because I don't like to write bad reviews doesn't mean I won't. I mean, I gotta earn those fat-ass Scene Point Blank checks. Coke, whores and patio furniture don't come for free, after all.

This brings us to the review in question. When I sat down to write this, I figured "Sure, I know what I'm going to say, but what better album to have on in the background than the album I'm writing about?" And wouldn't you know it - after getting ready with delicious bon mots about why the album is no fucking good, a funny thing happened - I started to like the goddamn thing. Not enough to give a glowing review, mind you (I save those for Sony artists. Thanks for the payola!), but enough of a change in heart that I knew I had some thinking to do. So with my whole world in upheaval, I stared blankly at the keyboard (a time-honored tradition) and re-formulated the whole process from soup-to-nuts and all the lentils in between.

The Immaculate Misconception, while certainly not the album of the year has just enough of the good stuff, the growls and grinding, the Misery Signals and the Botch-isms to (at least) placate the average listener. Clocking in at just under 24 minutes, this six track EP (including a brief intro) is a brief taste of possibilities on the horizon for these young whippersnappers from Wisconsin.

Amora Savant – The Immaculate Misconception cover artwork
Amora Savant – The Immaculate Misconception — Volatile Productions, 2005

Recently-posted album reviews

Økse

Økse
Backwoodz Recordz (2024)

Økse is a gathering of brilliant, creative minds. The project's roster is pristine, with avant-jazz phenoms Mette Rasmussen on saxophone, Savannah Harris on drums, and Petter Eldh on bass/synths/samplers joining electronic artist and multidisciplinery extraordinaire Val Jeanty (of the fantastic Turning Jewels Into Water project.) The result is a multi-faceted work that stands on top of multiple sonic pillars, as … Read more

Final

What We Don't See
Room40 (2024)

Justin K. Broadrick's prolific output keeps giving, and may it never stop! The latest release is one of Broadrick's earliest projects, Final, which started in the power electronics tradition but since its resurrection in the early '90s, it is solidly standing in the ambient realm. Final's new full-length What We Don't See continues on the same trajectory, relishing drone's minimalistic … Read more

Bambies

Snotty Angels
Spaghetty Town Records, Wanda Records (2024)

The digital files I’ve been listening to as I write this review are all tagged to begin with the band name, e.g. “Bambies Teenage Night,” “Bambies Love Bite,” etc. It seems like a fitting metaphor. The Bambies play the kind of Ramones-adjacent garage-punk that’s often self-referential and in on their own joke. The Bambies play leather jacket-clad, straight-forward punky songs … Read more