Saves the Day, "Under the Boards"

Saves the Day
"Under the Boards"
(Vagrant)

For whatever reason, Chris Conley and the rest of Saves the Day have shaken the bad vibes of being on mega-conglomerate, Dreamworks and been steadily releasing a series of awesome recordings recently. Last year, they hit us off with the dark, "Sound the Alarm," and its acoustic-tour companion, "Bug Sessions Vol.1." For the die hard emos, STD is giving us "Under the Boards," which isn't too far off from 2007's "Alarm."

A little poppier, "Under the Boards," like all of Saves the Day's albums, relies heavily on Conley's descriptive lyrical imagery. While the album blasts off with surefire favorites like "Under the Boards" and "Get Fucked Up," the record peaks at the Beatles-esque tune, "Lonely Nights." While Chris Conley is far from Lennon, he surely gives one hell of a try, which is pretty admirable in itself.

The problem with "Under the Boards" is that that the songs tend to sound the same after a few spins. Maybe it's the consistent tempo of the album, but there isn't much to break up the monotony. Even in the strangely arranged "Getaway," the bridge is so weird that it deflates the power of the song.

But then again, I was wrong about "In Reverie," as it's one of my favorite STD records, so I imagine that with time, "Under the Boards" will grow on me as well because, let's face it, Saves the Day has never put out an album that I hated.