Saves the Day
photo: lacy b · cc by-sa 2.0 ↗Formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1997, Saves the Day fused hardcore-scene speed with Chris Conley's nasal, diary-entry lyrics on Through Being Cool (1999) and Stay What You Are (2001), becoming one of the acts that carried 1990s emo and hardcore into the mainstream Warped Tour pop-punk of the 2000s.
Conley has said his "real love" among his formative bands is Jawbreaker — their raw, melodic post-hardcore songwriting is the clearest ancestor of Saves the Day's own fast, emotionally blunt sound.
listen forJawbreaker's driving, melodic "Boxcar" and Saves the Day's own "Rocks Tonic Juice Magic" both ride a fast, distorted punk rhythm section under a vocal that sounds like it's arguing with itself.
Conley has named Sunny Day Real Estate alongside Jawbreaker as a core influence during the making of Through Being Cool, drawn to the same restless, emotionally raw songwriting.
listen forSunny Day Real Estate's searching "In Circles" and Saves the Day's own title track "Through Being Cool" both let a slightly off-kilter vocal melody ride over a dense, driving guitar wall.
Conley has said the Foo Fighters' The Colour and the Shape was "listened to non-stop in the van" while the band was becoming Saves the Day, calling it, alongside Refused's The Shape of Punk to Come, "the seed of what was to become their sound."
listen forThe Foo Fighters' huge, hook-driven "Everlong" and Saves the Day's own "Freakish" both pair a loud-quiet dynamic with an enormous, melodic rock chorus.