Saves The Day - Sounds The Alarm

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 18 / 6 / 2006

---

Review

Chris Conley’s voice is the first thing the listener hears on ‘Sound the Alarm’, but he seems to have picked up an alarming drawl, as he sings just slightly off the key and off the beat. Underneath him, the band sound an awful lot like Green Day, and that feeling only takes stronger hold on the second track, 'The End', where Conley even seems to have adopted some of Billie Joe Armstrong’s vocal ticks. What the hell is going on here ? Whatever they tell you now, the staff of the 'NME' hedged their bets back in 2001/02. They hyped both the Strokes ‘n’ Stripes garage fad, and the wave of ‘emo’ bands peaking out from their own little sub-culture. Remember Rival Schools anybody? It wasn’t until the public made up their minds that the 'NME' did. When ‘emo’ lost that little battle, it left bands like Saves The Day somewhat rudderless, with neither a huge fanbase or any underground credibility. It shows on this album. In 2001, with ‘Stay What You Are’ they seemed confident in their effortless, shiny pop-rock, with crystal clear vocals and clever lyrics. Now they seem utterly clueless. You know how on ‘Rock and Roll’, Ryan Adams did an album of (pretty funny) impressions of other bands, a sly dig at critics who had labelled him a mere stylist. Well, this album sounds like that, but it isn’t (meant to be) a joke. Later in the album, Conley slips into Billy Corgan’s voice. The songs remain defiantly unmemorable throughout. Saves The Day were never shaking music’s foundations, but in 2006 they don’t even have any tunes. The album title is appropriate ; Someone at their label should indeed ‘Sound The Alarm’, because this album is as unbelievably awful as my pun.

Track Listing:-

1 Head for the Hills
2 The End
3 Shattered
4 Eulogy
5 Dying Day
6 34
7 Say You'll Never Leave
8 Diseased
9 Don't Know Why
10 Sound the Alarm
11 Bones
12 Delusional
13 Hell Is Here