Let's Stay Friends
by Les Savy Fav
Metascore
87

Universal acclaim - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Observer Music Monthly
    100
    A unique combination of masculinity and creativity, Let's Stay Friends is proof that few bands rock quite like this.
  2. Entertainment Weekly
    91
    The group is malevolent and charming at once, still a beguiling combo. [21 Sep 2007, p.82]
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  3. The A.V. Club
    91
    Let's Stay Friends is LSF's comeback--and frontman Tim Harrington and crew have picked up precisely where they left off.
  5. AllMusic
    90
    This album was well worth the wait and should win over some new fans and please the old ones too. Best of show.
  6. New Musical Express (NME)
    90
    Let's Stay Friends arrives as a startling cannon-shot message of brain-thawing intent.
  7. Alternative Press
    90
    They've retained some of the tighty wound post-punk angularity they've always favored and even bust a bit of old school punk, but the real advances are melodic. [Nov 2007, p.160]
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  8. Magnet
    90
    This heady mix of stratospheric rockers and inventive, smart and slyly revolutionary lyrics yields Les Savy Fav's best album yet. [Fall 2007, p.101]
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  9. Filter
    90
    From the propulsive 'What Would Wolves Do?' to the dub-styled 'Brace Yourself,' the album seems like something to play while driving across the desert at sunset, especially with all the wolf cries in the background from Islands’ Nicolas Thorburn.
  10. Pitchfork
    83
    It's not Les Savy Fav's most immediate record, nor is it their best.
  11. Stylus Magazine
    83
    The silent partners in LSF, Butler, Haynes, and guitarist Seth Jabour, all turn in their best work, making Friends the band’s most propulsive and moving offering yet.
  12. Prefix Magazine
    80
    Most notably is how these songs manage to seem loose, fun and deliberate all at once.
  13. cokemachineglow
    80
    Let’s Stay Friends is the most ambitious abuse of genre the band’s yet laid, like somehow when the indie revolution got gerrymandered Les Savy Fav came out on top.
  14. BBC collective
    80
    An ambitious, filler-free, modernist-sounding beast which laughs in the face of underachievement.
  15. Uncut
    80
    It’s a welcome return, to say the least.
  16. Mojo
    80
    Let's Stay Friends is a triumphant fusion of graft and glimmer. [Nov 2007, p.96]
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  17. Rolling Stone
    80
    Let's Stay Friends is the first album of new songs in six years from indie-rock madcaps Les Savy Fav, yet it sounds like a band that's just hitting a peak.
  18. Q Magazine
    80
    It marks a huge leap forward, with much of their previous discordant awkwardness replaced with a more focused approach. [Nov 2007, p.141]
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  19. NOW Magazine
    80
    Everything clicks on Let's Stay Friends, from blasts of Rocket from the Crypt bombastic rock on The Equestrian to Fugazi-sharp guitars backing Tim Harrington's feverish, controlled vocals on Patty Lee.
  20. Lost At Sea
    75
    Perfect it may not be, but as perfect as possible it might, and Let's Stay Friends certainly has more than enough fervor to make it one of the more refreshing punk purist releases since Fugazi laid down a baker's dozen of songs in the last century.
  21. PopMatters
    70
    Let’s Stay Friends is a fitting fourth album for Les Savy Fav. Assured and confident in an established style, the band also finds new ways to express its visions of frustration and celebration.
  22. Drowned In Sound
    70
    It’s been said that Let’s Stay Friends is more pop than anything Les Savy Fav have put out before, but it’s still tight-fist tough.

Awards & Rankings

7
#7 Best Album of 2007

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 36 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 36
  3. Negative: 4 out of 36
  1. JeffH.
    Nov 25, 2007
    10
    I can't believe that an album that actually rocks made to the top ten list. Must have been an oversight.
  2. BenJ.
    Nov 17, 2007
    7
    My only issue with this album is that the finer songs on it are absolutely blinding, but the not so great ones are pretty dull. I think My only issue with this album is that the finer songs on it are absolutely blinding, but the not so great ones are pretty dull. I think it's therefore rather uneven. Perhaps better as an EP than a full album? Or am I just being too picky?… Full Review »
  3. SeanP.
    Nov 11, 2007
    10
    Wow, this album is short, but infectious. It takes a few listens to love all the way, but after a few listens I couldn't take it from my Wow, this album is short, but infectious. It takes a few listens to love all the way, but after a few listens I couldn't take it from my CD player.… Full Review »
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