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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Review: Two Tongues, “Two Tongues”

Two Tongues
“Self-Titled”
(Vagrant)

On paper the combination of Say Anything maestro Max Bemis and genre stalwart/Saves the Day frontman Chris Conley is a great idea. Recently, the pair collaborated for a project called Two Tongues (along for the ride, Bemis and Conley are jointed by S.A. drummer Coby Linder and STD guitarist Dave Soloway taking the bass duties).

For the most part, “Two Tongues” is enjoyable. The album starts off pretty strong with Bemis and Conley trading much of the vocal duties. The first two tracks, “Crawl” and “If I Could Make you Do Things” are remarkably good and could be very big radio hits. Midway, however, the album falters and the novelty of a Say Anything-meets-Saves the Day superband gets rather stale.

At the end of the day, there’s really only about an EPs worth of excellent material, but if this project is ever sequelized, it will be interesting to see where Bemis and Conley will go with it.

YOU! BUY REDEFINE! NOW!!!1!

the new issue of redefine is out. i contributed some interviews with 2*sweet and sleepercar for it, but there's also a really awesome feature about polaroid film and a great interview with one of my favorite bands of all time, saves the day. get one from the redefine webstore or one of the locations listed here.

Video Nos. 3, 4, 5: Saves the Day, "Shoulder to the Wheel;" Al B. Sure, "Nite and Day;" DJ Shadow, "Midnight In a Perfect World"

When I started this, I totally forgot that I don't update on the weekends. The weekends are MY days, you see? So, I'm breaking you kids off with a three prong hit to make up for Saturday and Sunday. I think that's probably the way that it's going to go until month's end. Expect Mondays to be heavy video days. Word.

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.