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Saves the Day Under the Boards Rating: 4/5 |
Emo/pop-punk favorites Saves the Day have returned with “Under the Boards,” the second of three albums written to tell a story of self-discovery.
Front-man Chris Conley describes the relationship of the three albums as such: “‘Sound the Alarm’ is an expression of discontent, ‘Under the Boards’ is reflection and remorse, ‘Daybreak’ is acceptance.”
Released in April of 2006, “Sound the Alarm” received great reviews (including a mention in Cadenza’s best of 2006) as it was a return to form from the sugar-pop that was “In Reverie” back to the fast-paced emo/pop-punk they’re best known and loved for in “Through Being Cool” and “Stay What You Are.”
As established previously, “Under the Boards” picks up where “Sound the Alarm” left off, both lyrically and sonically. Singer-songwriter Chris Conley wears his heart on his sleeve; no longer feeling the rage he expressed and exposed to the world in “Sound the Alarm,” Conley has become depressed and unsure of what should become of his life. The title track starts things off and setts the tone for the album, begining with Conley singing, “I wanna crawl into the ground and not come out / For 37 years when my life runs out / A demon in my mouth, it spits words out / Let everybody hate me, make me kill myself.”
Later in “Can’t Stay the Same,” Conley seems to be trying to convince both the subject of the song as well as himself that their relationship is not in shambles, but things have to change. While the lyrics are by no means deep (“Hey, hey everything’s okay / I love you more than I can say / But we can’t stay the same /Yeah!”), its pop-punk riff drives it home as one of the most instantly likeable Saves the Day songs to date.
Unfortunately, the convincing doesn’t seem to go terribly well as the next track on the album, “Get F***ed Up.” The good news is that the song is infectiously catchy and is without question the first song Saves the Day has ever written that could be played at a party hosted by people who have never been on Livejournal.
Overall, this is a fantastic addition to the Saves the Day library, successfully following “Sound the Alarm” to progress the trilogy of albums and also progressing Conley as a songwriter and the current cast of characters playing in Saves the Day as a band. If “In Reverie” turned you away from Saves the Day and “Sound the Alarm” was too angsty for you to allow yourself to listen to as a college student, “Under the Boards” might be just the thing you need to reconnect your passion for Saves the Day.
Thanks to “Under the Boards” you can now party to “Get F***ed Up” before the alcohol destroys your liver to the point that it’s time to be buried to “At Your Funeral.” Now that’s a band.