Yesterday I was chilling on the corner of Broad Ripple Avenue, watching the cars zip past and treating myself to a bottle of port. So, I’m sitting there tucked into a little alcove that leads into a pizza shop when this dude goes riding by shirtless on a unicycle. This guy is out on the streets of Broad Ripple cruising around on his unicycle frequently, but it always catches my attention when I see him. Where is he going, and why is he using the worst mode of transportation on the planet to get there? I wasn’t the only one asking myself such questions. As a Honda drove past Mr. Unicycle, the operator craned his neck back to watch my man ride and completely missed the oncoming telephone pole, which he then wrapped his sedan around.
I sprang into action, spilling my wine in the process—just terrible. I ran over to the wrecked car and leaned in, ripping the guy’s phone from the heap of scrap. Dude had some good taste in music, despite his poor driving skills, and I just had to know what that was playing over his stereo. It turned out to be the recently released single “Cry” by the one and only Save Us. I stood there a moment grooving to the tune when the sound of approaching sirens prompted me to beat it. As I’m running down a back alley towards the pad, one thought persisted in my head: isn’t the new “Save Us” album coming out in a few days?
And what do you know? Another swing and another hit for old Dusty turns out I haven’t fried my brain just yet. That new album, “Death to Something,” was due to drop in just a couple days, but I didn’t have to wait that long; I already had it.
But who is Save Us? I’m getting to that; relax. Save Us is the alternative-metal powerhouse; think of something between Bring Me the Horizon and Asking Alexandria, from, uh, well, that part’s complicated. See Save Us vocalist Miguel Owls, who hails from sunny California, where he once spent his days posting his music, mostly covers, on TikTok. One day, UK-based musicians Chris Biddiscombe and Benji Havercroft came across one of his covers. They were so enthralled that Biddiscombe sent Owls a message; that one message bloomed into a series of long-distance jam sessions, which resulted in the band’s first EP, “Lucid.” This record netted the trio millions of streams, cementing Save Us as an alt-metal icon, scoring them a record deal, and prompting Owls to take a trip to England to do some in-person work with his bandmates.
Jump forward about three years to today, and the band is finally about to drop their debut album, that’s “Death to Something.” The album consists of twelve songs, six of which we have already heard on the EP “Last Of Me,” which was released earlier this year. That means we have six more brand-new tunes coming our way, and thanks to the previously released tracks, you probably have a decent idea of what's in store for us. Obviously, the band is back at it with those ensnaring instrumentals. Snarling guitar riffs coupled with explosive fills and beats from behind the kit which rock you harder than the telephone pole rocked that Honda. Pay attention to the road, kids. If you think you’ve seen it all when it comes to alt-metal, then you’re going to need to pull your head out of that smelly place down under you have it crammed in, as “Death to Something” flips the genre on its head. Like so many rouge waves, this is a collection of songs that crest and crash, dazzling the listener with such a simplistic instrumental combo in ways which just don’t seem possible. Pair these tasty licks and pumping beats with Owls' signature vocals, haunting and powerful, the wailings of a hell bound soul lamenting their sins as they dive headfirst into a cauldron stoked by their own fury, and what you have is a chart-topping album.
But, hey, don’t take my word for it. I’m just some wino that likes to sit on street corners and watch car crashes. Hearing is believing my friends, and today is the day you get to hear “Death to Something” for yourself. You can find the album streaming wherever you get your music now, so take the plunge and see firsthand the musical spectacle that not even the Atlantic Ocean, or the Pacific, depending on which way around you’re taking, could hold down. In the meantime, I’m heading back to my street corner. I left my wine behind, and me thinks that just maybe there’s a glassful left sitting in it.
