Devon from Imperfect Dads Podcast here! Your favorite second wave emo elitist enthusiast.
April 11th marks 20 years since @Saves The Day released their album Sound The Alarm.
To really understand this album it’s worth it to explore the band’s history.
In 2001 they released Stay What You Are and performed on The Late Late Show, Late night With Conan O’Brien, toured with Weezer, Blink 182 and Green Day. All of their momentum made them feel like an up and coming band that was getting noticed on a bigger stage. They were signed to Vagrant Records, and planned on releasing In Reverie as their final album with Vagrant. When Dreamwork Records heard In Reverie they loved it so much they bought the rights to the record from Vagrant and signed them. Chris changed his singing style to be kinder to his voice and this album was more indie rock than punk or emo.
When In Reverie was released it fell flat. Radio stations didn’t want to play "Anywhere With You", and they were already telling the band they needed a new album because they didn’t think this album was going to do well. Then Dreamwork Records was bought by Interscope Records, and the band got dropped by the label. The band went back to Vagrant and recorded and released Sound the Alarm.
Sound the Alarm is the first album in a trilogy of albums about self discovery. The experience of thinking you were on top, creating a new album that challenged you and changed your sound, to the album flopping and being dropped by a record label put Chris Conley in a really bad headspace. And everything about this album reflects that.
This album is a huge departure from In Reverie. "Head for the Hills" sets the tone for this album perfectly. You’ve got loud distorted guitars, riffs focused guitar work, fire imagery, crawling through hell, self hatred and mental anguish exploration all in a 3 minute song.
This entire album is filled with lyrics of being disconnected from your body and wanting to abuse it. Feeling like you’re on a stage while you’re destroying yourself (The Ugly Organ anyone?), and a lot of self hatred. If I was Chris’ friend at this time of writing it, I’d have to listen to it and say “Hey man. Are you okay?”
My favorite track is "Dying Day" because it is dripping with cynicism with a poppy song. The song is about looking at your past and framed pictures thinking the best times are behind you and none of the good times are ahead of you. But with the catchiness and pop sensibility of a Through Being Cool era song.
This album is a narrator that is desperate, angry, lonely, and violent. The amount of self body violence wording in this album really worries me to listen to. This entire album is honestly really brutal to take in. The title track is Chris begging someone to Sound the Alarm because he doesn’t think he can go on and doesn’t think anyone will notice to even sound the alarm.
If you’re in a headspace of feeling unwanted, angry, and wanting to disconnect from your body, you might relate to this album. And if you do I hope it lets you know you’re not alone in being in that mental space! And there is hope. Under the Boards is focused on reflection and remorse, and then Daybreak is focused on acceptance! So it’s a full trilogy of dealing with disappointment and anger…
But you also might want to talk to a friend or therapist if you can’t move on from Sound the Alarm.