Saves the Day

One day, Chris Conley might actually make a great little power-pop album, filled with tight guitar lines and soaring choruses, but this isn’t it. Instead, the front man for Saves the Day finds himself stuck between a couch cushion and a throw pillow: too smart to write lyrics only to entertain your 15-year-old niece but not clever enough to make an album that an adult can sit through. There are nuggets of hope scattered throughout the album—the choruses of “In Reverie” and “Where Are You” show a band that plays better as the music gets more technically difficult—but not enough to save the day. Mr. Conley may someday find his voice—and find that it’s thin timbre sounds better against clean major-sevenths than roaring power chords. Until then, Saves the Day will remain harmless.Saves the Day play Saturday, Oct. 18, at Chico State. See preview on page 26.