I’ve just received a batch of re-issues to review, and it got me thinking about older CDs that I hadn’t reviewed first time round, for whatever reason. So I had a look through my CD collection and spotted that ‘Can’t Slow Down’ had criminally been avoided. Can you believe this record is nearly eight years old? While Chris Conley’s voice still sounds familiar, Saves The Day circa 1998 are nothing like the band that recorded ‘In Reverie’. Heavily influenced by bands like Lifetime, the band’s debut is often regarded as their ‘punk’ album – the record that lacks the catchy, melodic songs that littered ‘Through Being Cool’, but maintains an urgency that their later recordings have sadly lacked.
Released on Equal Vision (which was then primarily a hardcore label), this record remains one of those that should be in your collection. ‘Deciding’ is an in-yer-face opener that shows early signs of Conley letting his vocal lines doing the hard work. There’s a charm about the sweet, inoffensive and youthful lyrics (see ‘Handsome Boy’) but it’s the pace of the tracks that may shock those who are only used to the maudlin later albums. ‘Collision’, for me, is one of the band’s better tracks, while ‘Nebraska Bricks’ and ‘Seeing It This Way’ are two of those songs you can put on and sing along too every time.
‘Can’t Slow Down’ may not be Saves The Day‘s best album, but it’s certainly one of their best. Showcasing Chris Conley’s youthful exuberance, it references many of the melodic hardcore bands of the time that he was clearly influenced by. But as the New Jersey scene progressed, so did Conley’s songwriting talents. This is Saves The Day at their most raw and passionate, and for that reason alone this CD is worthy of your pennies.
www.savestheday.com
Equal Vision
Paul