A.V. Club: Best of the Decade

Artist John The Savage

Milwaukee’s John The Savage is a strange, carnivalesque six-piece that has emerged as one of the city’s most talked-about live acts. It’s not hard to understand why: John The Savage conforms to the recent local trend of “exotic” instrumentation—meaning trumpets, cellos, and anything else more associated with high-school music programs than rock bands—while sounding unlike any other group in town, mainly because of Michael Skorcz’s eccentric, love-’em-or-hate-’em vocals. Skorcz’s circus-barker growl fits the cinematic sweep of the music, which veers impressively from New Orleans funeral marches to James Brown funk grooves. 

Updated 07/28/2009

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