Author’s note: Turns out everybody except me knew that Sound the Alarm and Under the Boards were part of a trilogy. Why did nobody tell me? So the concept runs a bit deeper than what I mention, and the third installment, Daybreak, should be out next year.
I’ve been around Saves the Day fans long enough to know that you’re not supposed to like the new album. It’s the same as Weezer fans, the bigger the fan the less they like the new album. I really do try to buck this trend and at least accept the new album on a provisional basis. It’s worked well for me in the past, as Maladroit is my favourite non-classic Weezer album, and I appreciate In Reverie more than I think the bulk of Saves the Day fans do. But I don’t think Saves the Day’s new album, Under the Boards , has much chance of becoming my favourite. It’s not bad, it’s just…well, you’ll see.
When StD put out Sound the Alarm last Spring, I was a little worried about Chris Conley. That album is by far Saves the Day’s darkest effort, with even the boppier songs like “Eulogy,” “Dying Day” and “Diseased” delivering pretty twisted imagery. That’s nothing new for StD, Chris has long been suggesting things like
Won’t you tell me the next time that you’re choking/I could run right over and shove some dirt right down your throat
or
If not I’ll take my spoon/Dig out your blue eyes/Swallow them down to my colon/It’s gonna burn like hell tonight
But on Sound the Alarm the themes were less about being upset with other people, and more about being upset with oneself. Also paranoia and madness. So I think I was justifiably worried about Chris.
A few months later, tired of going through a middle man to update the official website, the band created their own using Mac prowess and started posting videos. This let me make sure that Chris was doing okay, but they kind of stopped coming as they went in to record Under the Boards, which was the next I heard from them, aside from the acoustic show at Kilby .
So it turns out that UtB is a concept album and all thirteen songs were written prior arrival at Electric Ladybug for recording. It’s about a breakup, which is something we’ve heard before, right? But I’ve never heard an album so comprehensive about it. The title track, which opens the album, is told from after the events of the album take place, the way Fight Club starts at the end, y’know? “Radio” shows a relationship struggling but with our protagonist “trying to make the one [he] loves happy.” In “Can’t Stay the Same” the relationship has peaked, both parties realize they’ve had their best moments already and things are doomed. The next three songs are the protagonist beating himself up for the inevitable breakup; initial anger; and then the post-breakup slump. “Bye Bye Baby” is a man’s attempt to massage his ego by saying “I never needed you anyhow!” From here to the end of the album the sentiments bounce around a little bit from wistful to defensive to violent to ultimately frustrated to, in the end, kind of resigned. “Kaleidoscope”/”Woe” (a lot of the songs blend into each other like on old Pink Floyd records) gives us the heaviest moments ever heard on a Saves the Day record, and Sound the Alarm had some freaking heavy moments. And even though this album has some fairly boppin’ songs, like StA, it still ends without a positive resolution. Hopefully Daybreak clears this up because as good as this album is, there’s no way I’d be able to put in on as freely and any of StD’s first four. To help you determine where you stand I’ll give you a sample from both sides of the pole. Enjoy!
Saves the Day // MySpace // Buy Under the Boards
Saves the Day - Get Fucked Up [3:03m]: Play in Popup | Download Saves the Day - Kaleidoscope [3:18m]: Play in Popup | Download
posted by D. | 12.15.07 | 12:49 am | 0 Comments
Filed under: Album Spotlight, Emo, Indie, U.S. 
I do this thing sometimes where I forget why a band is one of my favourites, and then I feel stupid for having ever doubted them. This happened at the Saves the Day show last night, and happened hard. I’d been in a super dodgey mood most of the day and considered not going (see 
So this post kind of got put on the back burner with the Ozma review and everything going on, but I still feel one of the most important aspects of a roadtrip is the soundtrack for it. Here are a four pointers for creating a mix disc or MP3 playlist to fill in the silent miles. 
Zakk Wylde, of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Label Society fame, is somewhat of a guitar wildman, yet he's been known to say that the true test of musicianship is in an acoustic setting. "The acoustic guitar kicks my ass every time," he says. This isn't Saves the Day's first venture into the realm of acoustic music. In the early days, when they were still touring with hardcore bands, they released an EP of original acoustic tunes (and one awkward cover) before it was trendy to do so. This time they've revisited some old favourites with stripped down arrangements. Some choices– "Freakish" from Stay What you Are, "In My Waking Life" from In Reverie– seem obvious choices. What I'm thankful for is inclusion of tracks that were originally pretty loud and fast and hard to follow for the uninitiated. The reworking of "You Vandal" is especially poignant, as it showcases a sweetness that's traded for energy in the original. On solo performances of "Waking Life" and "Sell My Old Clothes, I'm Off to Heaven" (the latter especially), Chris Conly shows the strength of the songs, as they sound like they've always been meant for a lonely acoustic guitar. 
