Part of growing up is moving on from the music that you used to listen to. Many times, music fans will support a band until they hit TRL and nation-wide radio rotation. It has happened to me many times -- I start claiming that I don't like a band anymore because I like to support bands that no one knows about. These are my exact circumstances with the New Jersey rock band, Saves the Day. I loved them in high school but dropped them like a hot stone when they hit MTV's top ten.
Sound The Alarm, their fifth full-length album, embodies the sounds of high school. The songs are aggressive and filled with fire, characterized by '90s punk-drumming and edgy guitar hooks that will make you want to spin donuts in a parking lot.
Lead singer Chris Conley admits on the band's road journal that this time around "the songs are short and fast and angry and hopefully will make you want to tear your ears off your head." He might be right.
Listeners might be ripping their ears off when they realize this is the darkest, saddest, most miserable album the band has ever released. While the music is toe-tappingly catchy, the lyrics suffer from what I call the "empty inside" syndrome. All of the songs complain of wasting life, reliving yesterday, despairing over women and the paranoia of disloyal friendships. The music will have you singing, no doubt, but once you hear the words coming out of your mouth, you might wish you weren't.
Conley's lyrics have always been trademarked by one thing -- gruesome hyperbole. Sometimes, the way he can juxtapose romance and gore can be downright funny. But what used to be funny might suddenly be a matter of concern. Cries to "cut off my flailing limbs," "hammer nails into my eyes" and "cut out my own throat and eat it raw" might make you question how far is too far when it comes to humorous over-exaggeration.
Not to mention the three-song paranoia trip, where Conley fears his friends will hatch plans to put cyanide in his water pipes, hang him upside from a tree and leave him in the woods "for wolves to eat my face." As gross as it is, the content is also pathetic. Fans will notice there is no lyrical diversity. Someone should send Conley a postcard or some flowers to cheer him up, and soon, before the lyrics get any worse.
Musically, however, Sound The Alarm is a different story. Saves the Day's sound evolves with every album. I was expecting something completely different this go-around. Their last album, In Reverie, was a departure from their post-emo sound and dipped its delicate fingers into the underworld of indie-rock. Sound The Alarm, though, in many respects, takes sounds from every album and mixes them in a blender. This album is a high-energy puree of everything Saves the Day has created over their decade of existence. The results succeed even with their re-hashed New Found Glory, radio-punk zest.
"Head for the Hills" and "The End" showcase the aggressive punk sound from their early days, while "Eulogy," "Dying Day" and "Bones" slow down the pace with medium rock ballads, reminiscent of their third release, Stay What You Are. Gorgeous guitar tones and mature jazz drumming ring through on "Don't Know Why." It is surprising how many styles Saves the Day have up their ample sleeves. The album closes with the neurotic trio of conspiracy songs, complete with a slue of diminished and minor chords that are unique for the genre.
Once again, Conley and the gang create melodies with an extreme vocal range but melodies that are strong nonetheless. Often, the guitars will echo the melodies in furious rock-hooks and, like any good '60s pop-rock song, will suck you in and spit you back out in under two and a half minutes. It is the Saves the Day sound, after all, and the only thing that stays the same throughout each album.
The bottom line is the boys have succeeded in creating another punchy rock record, something that many of their fans have missed. If only the lyrics were as sophisticated as the music, then it might be something to talk about. Unless you are drowning in the darkness of your mind and clawing out of your skin for new friends like Conley is, you might find it hard to relate to Sound The Alarm's hopeless message. But if you are like me and enjoy reliving the music of high school every now and again, you should buy it. One thing is sure, though. Saves the Day won't be sounding any alarms on the pop charts this time.
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