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CRITICS' PICKS Friday, January 7; Frederick's Music Lounge
Riverfront Times St Louis
Jordan Harper
The Web site for Chicago's the Saps gives the definition of a sap as "one who is overly sweet or sentimental." There's another meaning for the word: a double-fist hunk of leather with a lead lump inside, perfect for splitting skulls. The Saps should have gone with that one; it comes closer to describing their sound. These guys do the country-punk better than most because they don't wallow in lame pseudo-country posing. Instead, they take the emotional vulnerability and rhythms of gutbucket roadhouse tunes and juice them up with punk rawk. Singer Dan Lasic bounces between pleading and screeching, as the songs require, and does both with aplomb. The music might not literally split your skull, but it's a whole lot stronger than "sweet." The New Haven Register
Pat Ferrucci
The Saps -- "C'mon Already -- Start A Fire" (Carrot Top Distribution): Veteran Chicago band The Saps put its sophomore disc, "C'mon Already -- Start A Fire," in the can more than a year ago. The quartet put the album out themselves and then went out and toured on the record. Obviously, someone was listening because the infectious disc is getting a re-release that will surely reward the band with many more fans. Beginning with the fractured and sugar-coated "Coup De Grace," the 10-track record never lets up, providing hook after hook after hook. Maybe the delay was worth it, since "C'mon Already" can now take its rightful place as the album of the summer. Combining more popdriven alt country with the streamlined sound of The Cars, The Saps start out strong, and for 30 minutes the quartet has the listener in the palm of its hand. Lead Sap Dan Listick's voice oscillates between Ric Ocasek and Rilo Kiley's Blake Sennett, providing an exasperated and nasally whine that even sounds a lot like Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne at times. It's the kind of vocals that might strike some the wrong way, but work perfectly within these songs, a set that's unconventionally conventional. "Hospital" could be a country Green Day song, with Listick screaming "I hate the hospital" over and over, but the deceptively complicated song rises far above that comparison on sheer wit and verve. And for a band that's been around for about 8 years, there's an innocence inherent on "C'mon Already," one that lets listeners know the group's main priority is having fun and making great pop songs. That's why there's no way to listen to the record and not get happy. It's just a lightning rod of pop, a great listen and easily one of the best records of this first quarter of 2007.
"The Saps' forthcoming LP has roots in alt-country of the energetic sort, as if Wilco recorded A.M. on a sugar high and proceeded to invite Stephen Malkmus over for a havoc-wreaking play-date."
Spin.com "Clever pop. Very impressive."
USA Today "Chicago’s The Saps have made one heck of a record with 'C’mon Already, Start A Fire.' The band hits a home run lyrically as well as musically. Hope The Saps have their suitcases packed, because they’ve made a thoroughly enjoyable album that deserves national attention."
Three Imaginary Girls "This is what all your favorite bands sounded like before they got too old to care."
Amplifier Magazine "'C'mon Already - Start a Fire' is a successful attempt at rock and irony without crossing the line into overemotional jams. It's simply fun to listen to."
The Daily Tarheel "Beginning with the fractured and sugar-coated 'Coup De Grace,' the 10-track record never lets up, providing hook after hook after hook. 'C'mon Already' can now take its rightful place as the album of the summer. Combining more popdriven alt country with the streamlined sound of The Cars, The Saps start out strong, and for 30 minutes the quartet has the listener in the palm of its hand."
New Haven Register "C'Mon Already — Start a Fire tempers the snark with some convincing Beach Boy confections, Nuggets-style psych-garage, and a little country picking — even if it's on a song about copping a feel at an art-porn flick. They make romantic metaphors out of hospital phobia and fish slipping off hooks, but they mostly make pop-punk for the right reason: for fun."
St. Louis Riverfront Times "The album features a set of 10 songs that alternate between alt-country (“Hospital” and “Cicero”) and grungy indie rock (“Dead Friends” and “Ohio”) with a bit of pop mixed in (“The Way You Want Me To” and “You Bought It Now”)...a unique, somewhat screwball sound."
UR Chicago Magazine "The Saps are like a double-fist hunk of leather with a lead lump inside, perfect for splitting skulls!"
The St. Louis Riverfront Times "The disk's real gem is "wait", whose first line is, "I got so drunk I wanted to piss on you". The saps have nailed their formula: their rock is drunk, dirty and infectious. It's a beautiful thing."
Splendid Magazine (11.17.04) "The Saps are the kind of band that it's easy to get behind... a group of guys determined to have a good time while simultaneously destroying everything from expectations to ear drums."
BreakThru Radio "The Saps bring poppy hooks, and bitter, yet clever chords. I saw them last winter and had great fun trying to keep up with the shots they were doing on stage while waiting to hear my favorite song of theirs "trustfund"!"
The Chicago Reader (12.30.04) "On three EPs and one self-released full-length "finally a band you can trust", these punkers suggest what the Old97's might sound like if they took the last stick out of their asses.."
The Chicago Reader (12.30.04) "..young reckless abandonment."
Buzz Killman
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