saves the day

in reverie

'Remember when Weezer released "Pinkerton" and all the indie rock kids ate it up? For that point in time, that was the best damned record ever.

Then they released "The Green Album" and openly admitted to considering "Pinkerton" to be the band's bastard child, a complete mistake. It felt as though the person you thought you'd spend the rest of your life with just dumped your sorry ass clear out of the blue. To use the words of Ralph Wiggam, it even tasted "like burning."

Chances are, somewhere in your record collection, you could also find a copy of records like "Can't Slow Down" or "Through Being Cool." These were more than respectable indie records that were destined to catch on with someone high up in some lofty major-label office.

Eventually, it did. Well, it did for bands like Saves the Day, anyway. Sound-a-likes Newfound Glory, et al. enjoyed MTV stardom and used their 15 minutes of fame as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the indie crowd still held respect for Saves the Day as a good band that had a good reputation for putting out above-average records.

Then came "Stay What You Are." It took the band's sound and mixed it with big-budget studio production techniques. It made an otherwise punk album sound pretty pop. "At Your Funeral" caught on, and it sort of became a guilty pleasure. You wanted to dislike the band, but the record was still decent enough to let it slide.

Well, Saves the Day finally provides you with a good reason to dislike them. It's called "In Reverie," and it hit the shelves last week. This album is like Weezer's "The Green Album." It's created for a new type of fan, the ones who sing along to commercial soundtrack music. Or, if you want to be blunt about it, the ones who like shit.

The only explanation for this type of action has to be that they were trying to distinguish themselves from their former sound, which found itself all over the radios and televisions of teenage schoolgirls everywhere. It would be a shame if they felt forced to change in order to respect themselves. It would be even more of a shame they chose this atrocious '70s pop sound to give themselves clarity.

My only plea to the band is not to let major labels get the best of you. You did what you did well. Why change that?

The only thing people will be in a reverie about is what you used to sound like. Heed your own advice and stay true to what you really are.