chasing coolness: Redux: Saves the Day, “In Reverie”

I’ve essentially owned “In Reverie” three times. I found it years ago, shortly after it was released, at the $.99 bin at Underdawg Records in lower Queen Anne. I listened to it and found a few tracks to be pretty decent, but not enough to keep my attention, or to really keep the CD. I sold it soon afterwards and went along my merry way.

When Saves the Day released “Bug Sessions Vol. 1,” the acoustic version of “In My Waking Life” blew me away and I suddenly regretted parting with my copy of the album from which it came from. Like all great music fans, I found a copy online and downloaded it and fell in love with the album. Not too long ago, I found it for $3 at a Half-Price Books and snatched it up with the quickness.

In many ways, it’s a natural progression from “Stay What You Are” – Chris Conley’s lyrics are still biting, clever and delicate. The polished production is very much in the favor of the album and “In Reverie’s” big rock sound is an accurate of a time when Saves the Day was playing arenas with the likes of Green Day, Blink 182 and Weezer.

Unfortunately, the record tanked for a variety of reasons and the band went into a hiatus for a couple of years before releasing anything new.

This kind of slump from a critically and commercially successful record is something that’s seen often but it’s been happening to several bands like Fall Out Boy and Plain White T’s (who, surprisingly, released the ridiculously catchy “Big Bad World” in 2008). But if they can follow the sample that Saves the Day put forth, it’s that a few years to regroup can lead to some pretty amazing music.

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