Ireland-based band led by former Strypes drummer Evan Walsh, The Savage Hearts, have emerged as a group of mysterious musicians. Collaborating in secret and worshipping at the alter of highly uncelebrated local rock ’n’ roll hero Eddie Cruizer, they’ve begun to produce their brand of unhinged garage rock.
Evan explains the story behind The Savage Hearts, ”The music of The Savage Hearts began to grow organically during the lockdown a few years ago. My previous band The Strypes had wound down just before that and obviously the extended time off gave me plenty of time to think about what sort of music I really wanted to do next as well as collect ideas and stockpile demos.”
Latest release, double-single ‘Speeding Bullets’ and ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’, sees the band bring another pair of utterly momentous, tireless and unflagging rock bangers.
‘Speeding Bullets’ is riotous and violently bouncy, every instrument powered with a pulse as the forward charge of pianos, guitars and drums sends a wave behind the anthemic vocals. The harmonica tones shoot out as a rogue new entity. The raw rock talent is evident and the punk grit is turned up just enough to move a huge energy through the listener going into ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’.
In this track, the energy is continued, and turned up, the vocals taking a more laid-back style to allow the roar of guitars and brass stabs to become a runaway train of instrumentals. Furiously fast, almost frenetic, the track is on a constant bid to catch up with itself, pulling listeners on their sprinting journey. The final moments see a saxophone solo rip out, followed by its distorted guitar counterpart given a chance to show off.
On the band’s sound, Evan continues, “A lot of the songs were co-written with my good friend Ste Kelly from the Irish indie band Raglans including our two singles ‘Gang War’ and ‘Speeding Bullets’. The main aim was to capture the spirit of the music that always moved and excited me the most – raw fuzzy garage rock mixed with blues, soul, punk, pub rock all with the added menace of psychedelia for good measure!”
