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Brooklyn band SAVAK have shared their latest single, "What is Compassion?" from their forthcoming album Rotting Teeth In The Horse's Mouth out 10th April on Ernest Jenning Record Co. 

The quirky video was made by Hayden Menzies from Canadian band METZ. Sohrab Habibion explained how it came about. "I first met Hayden in Toronto when METZ played with Obits in 2009. I've long admired his art, along with his impressive work behind the drum kit. Around 2017 Hayden started posting short tour videos on his Instagram account that were absolutely brilliant. Collages of random moments in the van or hotel or venue or rest stop. Quick montages of a close-up of somebody's eye, a piece of fruit rolling around, a tv show clip, whatever. They managed to be hilarious while accurately documenting the mostly unspoken monotony of a life spent on the road. Fast forward to a few months ago when, knowing we'd want to make a few videos for the new SAVAK album, and asked him if he'd be up for making one as a "rock video" for us. Fifteen minutes later I got back his response: "Absolutely!"

The song is about how we definine compassion and how we desperately need more of it right now. "Our landscape has been reduced to the whims and folly of real estate developers. What had been the best local bakery is inexplicably yet another nail salon." explains Sohrab. "Our family histories are scattered across cloud servers while our genetic data is sold to third parties. Companies can be hired to scrub the web of our past transgressions. More than ever we are dependent on strangers to behave somewhat generously just to keep our communities intact and our disagreements reasonably civil. So, yeah . . . what is compassion?"

Recorded in SAVAK’s Gowanus, Brooklyn studio, core SAVAK members and principal songwriters Michael “Jaws” Jaworski and Sohrab Habibion direct you into their headspace with a fiery pool of propulsive rhythms helmed by drummer Matt Schulz that shake in your blood and seep through your most permeable pores. The album also features contributions from Scott McCloud (Girls Against Boys, Paramount Styles), Michael Hampton (The Faith, One Last Wish, Fake Names) and Radio 4’s Anthony Roman.
 
Formed in 2015 by members of The Obits, Holy Fuck, and The Cops, SAVAK are broadcasting shared sentiments that we feel when we hear - all the more illuminating during this dark and tumultuous timeline. It’s a call to action for ourselves and for each other.

US live dates with Archers of Loaf:
March 13 - Woodstock, NY - Colony - with Archers of Loaf
March 14 - Boston, MA - Royale - with Archers of Loaf
April 17 - Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts - with Archers of Loaf
April 18 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar - with Archers of Loaf
June 6 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom - with Archers of Loaf

UK headline shows:
May 15 - Cambridge, UK - The Blue Moon
May 16 - London, UK - The Lexington - with Dealing With Damage
May 17 - Nottingham, UK - JT Soar
May 18 - Newcastle, UK - The Cumberland Arms
May 19 - Glasgow, UK - The Old Hairdresser’s
May 20 - Manchester, UK - The Peer Hat
May 21 - Liverpool, UK - Outpost
May 22 - Stoke-on-Trent, UK - Pilgrims Pit - with Radioactivity