This is Not An Exit

It’s hard to know where to start when I talk about Saves The Day. Ever since I first heard them when I was a teenager, their music and the words of Chris Conley have been a constant in my life. Their songs transcend the mere words, notes and combination thereof; they touch at the inner truth of existing as a human being, the forming of relationships and bonds, and touching of hearts that makes us who we are. This will be the first post I plan on doing in a series of posts leading up to release of their new album, Daybreak on September 13th, in a retrospective of sorts, going through each album and its own meaning in my life. Consider this an introduction.

Saves The Day are best known as a punk band from Princeton, New Jersey, at least that’s how they started out, but in a span of 14 years their musical sensibilities have ranged from pop-punk, emo, indie, to sounds reminiscent of The Beatles. Often it was Saves The Day’s ability to do one of these quite well that would pigeon-hole them into a specific genre only to leave fans scratching their heads as they further expanded their range on their next release. They are a well-travelled band, having toured with artists such as Snapcase, Weezer, Blink-182, Green Day, Taking Back Sunday and Circa Survive. The band went from indie labels to actually being on a major label for a brief stint, only to be dropped after the label went under shortly after the album’s release.

Chris Conley, the man behind Saves The Day

The band has seen their share of ups and downs, with 14 different members and a different line-up for all but 2 albums; “they” manage to keep a consistency of musical ability and pop prowess with front man Chris Conley holding the reins. Conley is a true master of words and the human spirit, writing songs that not only tell stories, but speak to the harsh, uplifting and honest parts about being alive. Conley is Saves The Day, and Saves The Day is Conley, his relationships, thoughts, feelings and fears are transcribed within the lyric sheets in each album. Yet with each ounce of pain expressed in a Saves The Day song, comes gallons of hope a joy through the music that is created. Many of Conley’s lyrics and music take you back to your own moments and feelings through his own, and over the years they stop becoming about one specific moment, and about the moment you are listening to them in, whether it’s driving through the desert, or shouting along at a show.

This is my first big undertaking for this blog, but hopefully it will act as a catalyst for even bigger things. Stay tuned for the first retrospective of Saves The Day’s first album, 1997’s Can’t Slow Down.

For more info check out the Saves the Day entry on Wikipedia