Sound the Alarm (Saves the Day album)

Background and writing

In 2003, Saves the Day signed to major label DreamWorks. In Reverie was released in September of that year, through DreamWorks. Frontman Chris Conley received a call from the band's A&R person at DreamWorks: "[H]e said, 'None of the programmers at radio are biting at the single, and MTV doesn't want to play the video, so we're going have to start thinking about the next record.' I had a total breakdown. I was like, 'How is this possible? The album just came out!'" A few weeks after the album's release, DreamWorks was absorbed by Interscope Records and not long after, the band were dropped from the label. Using all the money they had, the group decided to build their own studio. Conley explained: "if we have a place to make cheap records, we can keep the band going for years."

However, before they began working on new material, Conley was self-doubting himself. He "completely lost faith in myself" following the lack of success with In Reverie, "when that happened, a chamber got opened up inside me, a vault of seething despair." Sometime after, Conley locked himself in a room, forcing himself to write new material. Conley explained that "all of a sudden, the shit storm came. And there was plenty of material -- just frustration and rage and desperation, just the fear of losing everything." Following the completion of new songs in February 2005, the group planned to start recording in May, with a projected fall release for the new album. Prior to the recording sessions, bassist Eben D'Amico was replaced by Glassjaw bassist Manuel Carrero, who Conley had met through playing shows with Glassjaw. Conley reasoned D'Amico was not on the "same page creatively" as him, guitarist David Soloway, and drummer Pete Parada.

Recording

On August 4, 2005, the band began pre-production, and the following day were "now in full swing, blazing through songs in rehearsal" in preparation for recording. By this point, the group had 18 songs, aiming to record 14 of them. The group called this material "short and fast and angry", naming several songs they were working on: "Head for the Hills", "Sound the Alarm", "Diseased" and "Eulogy". The recording sessions for Sound the Alarm was self-funded by the band, which Conley described as having "stretched us, for sure". He said the band considered themselves "lucky enough to have enough capital" to start recording. Recording took place at their personal studio, Electric Ladybug Studios. Producer duties were handled by Steve Evetts, who also produced the group's first two albums, Can't Slow Down (1998) and Through Being Cool (1999). The band worked with Evetts again as he could, according to Conley, "see what your qualities are and bring out the best in you".

Evetts also engineered the recordings, with assistantace from Jesse Cannon during drum tracking. On August 28, 2005, the band posted a recording update on their website. In the post, Conley mentioned the band had worked on a song titled "Sticky 500" a day prior, before proceeding to work on "Say You'll Never Leave". Conley revealed that he has done "some rough vocals" takes and noted that recording was "moving along pretty quickly now". The band recorded 13 songs over a span of four months in 2005, announcing they had finished recording on October 19. Mixing was performed by Chad Blinman at The Eye Socket. The album was mastered by Dave Collins at Dave Collins Mastering.

Music and lyrics

All of the songs on the album were written by the band, with Conley providing lyrics. Sound the Alarm is part one of a three-part concept that Conley described in an interview with Punknews.org. Sound the Alarm was named after one of the songs on the album that, according to Conley, "sums up the mood of the record." Describing the theme of the album, Conley said it was "desolation, like you're the last person standing after the apocalypse and you're alone and you're cold. Your home has been obliterated, but you have to keep on trucking through those feelings of isolation and desolation and keep hope alive in the midst of insanity."

Conley described "Head for the Hills" as being "thoughts that creep up and swallow you, and you can't ignore the negative, the hell inside." Conley called "Don't Know Why" as being "my blues. It's one of those songs that keeps me off the ledge personally. I sing it to myself all the time when I'm at home alone." On the album's sound, Conley revealed that the group purposely "kept it simple", relying solely on two guitars, bass and drums, attempting to create "a raw album" in the process. After having recorded the material, Conley referred to it as "quite different" compared to In Reverie. The album's sound has been described as emo, pop, and pop punk.

Release

As soon as the band finished recording, they immediately went on a 47-date tour, alongside Senses Fail, The Early November and Say Anything, lasting from October till December 2005. On January 8, 2006, the band formally announced Carrero as an official member of the group. On January 30, it was announced that the band had re-signed with Vagrant. Vagrant had previously released the band's Stay What You Are (2001) and Ups & Downs: Early Recordings and B-Sides (2004) albums. The group re-signed with Vagrant because they wanted a record label "with backbone, brave enough to work with a band that doesn't give a fuck about radio [or] video airplay." Label boss Rich Egan stated that the band "helped put Vagrant on the map" and that the label was "ecstatic to have them back."

On February 13, the track listing and artwork was revealed, which was designed by Soloway. In March and April, the band went on a tour of the U.S. with support from Circa Survive and Moneen. On March 23, "The End" and "Shattered" were made available for streaming. This was followed by a second leg of the tour with Circa Survive and Moneen, running in April and May. Sound the Alarm was initially planned for release on April 4, before being released on April 11 through Vagrant. The band went on the 2006 edition of Warped Tour. In September, the band went on a brief east coast tour with support from I Am the Avalanche and Pistolita. In November, Conley performed a small number of solo shows across the east coast. In March 2007, Parada left the group and was replaced by Classic Case/Glassjaw drummer Durijah Lang. In April and May, the band went a co-headlining tour with Say Anything.

Reception

Sound the Alarm reached number 67 on the Billboard 200 chart and number 4 on the Independent Albums chart. By August 2006, the album had sold over 49,000 copies.

Track listing

All songs written by Saves the Day. All lyrics written by Chris Conley.

1. "Head for the Hills" – 2:50
2. "The End" – 1:54
3. "Shattered" – 3:08
4. "Eulogy" – 3:22
5. "Dying Day" – 2:21
6. "34" – 2:22
7. "Say You'll Never Leave" – 2:20
8. "Diseased" – 2:12
9. "Don't Know Why" – 3:22
10. "Sound the Alarm" – 3:06
11. "Bones" – 2:23
12. "Delusional" – 2:07
13. "Hell Is Here" – 3:36

Personnel

Personnel per booklet.