Saves the Day || Daybreak

Saves the Day
Daybreak
Label: Razor & Tie
Released on: September 13th, 2011
Grade: 2 out of 5 meatballs
Reviewed by: Gina Provenzano

First off, let me tell you how much it pains me to give this album a bad review. Saves the Day was one of the first bands I truly fell in love with, and despite my musical tastes maturing since 2002, I can still recite Through Being Cool and Stay What You Are from beginning to end. Their songs still pop up when I shuffle my iPod, and I’m instantly transported back to being a 16-year-old, for better or worse. While I did feel a twinge of nostalgia when I first listened to the band’s latest, Daybreak, overall the album sounded like the band regressed back to the same catchy pop punk hooks they’ve been making for over a decade, except the spark was gone.

Maybe the most noticeable change in this album was singer Chris Conley’s voice. Instead of becoming deeper with age, it’s gotten higher pitched and more nasally and whiney, almost beyond recognition. The second change I noticed was the high production value and extra polish on every track. While you have to expect a band that gains more success will have more time in the studio to create a perfectly-crafted album, somewhere along the line Saves the Day has lost the edge and grit that once set them apart from other similar bands (and since 2002 there have been many to follow in their footsteps). The few highlights of the album come when the mood chooses to go darker on songs like “E” and “1984.” They have catchiness and the same wit and angst of their older work; I wish the whole album could have been made up of similar songs.

When catching up with Saves the Day I found that they are far from the same boys I grew up with. Conley is currently the only remaining original member of the band after years of nearly ten different members rotating in and out of the group. With all of those lineup changes and probable turmoil that happened over the years, the songs are surprisingly mild and tame, and I think it’s no coincidence that some of the original charm left along with those founding members. It’s also interesting to hear a group still singing of the same young love, heartache and discontent at 30 that they did at 18. I was hoping for a great new album — it might be time for the band to move on from the same themes and melodies they’ve been playing for over a decade. Conley did create a good album recently as a member of the band Two Tongues alongside Say Anything’s Max Bemis. My hope is that the group looks to that album for new inspiration when they head back to the studio or that the only remaining original member of Saves the Day continues to make music as a duo.