Save Ends

Warm Hearts, Cold Hands

Written by: LF on 26/12/2013 22:26:09

Save Ends is an American pop rock/pop punk band with a sort of gritty sound and "Warm Hearts, Cold Hands" is their label debut and first LP. It's quite evident already from the first track of this album that they have improved since their last EP, "Strength vs Will".

The thing that stands out the most about this band is their mix of male and female vocals that brings an interesting dual quality to the music. Other bands have this same mechanic working for them but there's something a little different about it with Save Ends. While Christine Atturio's voice is nasal and very innocent and childlike, Brendan Cahill's is deeper, hoarser, more strained and sounds more stereotypically pop punk than Atturio's. The combination of these two voices gives the songs a certain aura of complexity or ambiguity not least enforced by the lyrical material and the music's differing sentimental moods. These elements join together and give the album a very simple or romantic feel that's still persistently grounded in stories of melancholy and troubled times. Many bands (We Are The In Crowd, Lemuria to name a few) strive for this, and some of them succeed but Save Ends has really hit the nail on the head with their new record and the result is a beautiful collection of songs that all stand out in their own way.

That being said, it did take a while for this album to really sink in with me and call for replays and I'm convinced that is mainly because of the raw production which made the album glide right past me at first but which is incidentally also what I ended up really liking about it. It's a solid album and a grower, understandably as every song on it is a work of quality with great melodies, the two most contagious to be found on "We Are The Only Ones" and "Skeptical Sons/Curious Daughters", although the tornado of "Same Old Dice" or "Kurzweil" with its insistent chorus are both brilliant contenders for the title as well.

Also deserving a mention we have the sweet and folksy "Always Knew" with its eminent show of a strength inherent in Atturio's childlike voice that was not evident from the beginning of the album. Finally the ender "Don't Panic" is great, not least because it's a well-built song that actually finishes with an almost defiant strength that really suits this gritty album. All in all "Warm Hearts, Cold Hands" is a solid effort that I have grown to like so much that every single song on it has been my favorite at different times. Even though there's not too much variation in terms of mood, this band really understands how to write contagious songs with delicate differences that can keep the listener interested for a longer time.

8

Download: We Are The Only Ones, Skeptical Sons/Curious Daughters, Song of Susannah, Same Old Dice
For The Fans Of: We Are The In Crowd, Lemuria, The Get Up Kids, Farewell Continental, Slingshot Dakota
Listen: facebook.com/SaveEnds

Release Date 12.11.2013
Tiny Engines


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