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Thy Catafalque
Stengade, Copenhagen, DEN - 6/4
Album Reviews
Save Your Breath
There Used To Be A Place For Us
Written by: PP on 11/01/2014 14:26:35
For a while Save Your Breath were considered as one of the hottest pop punk upstarts in the UK, following in the footsteps of Hit The Lights, Fall Out Boy and other clean/mainstream pop punk bands from across the pond. Then on 2012's "Recover" EP they took a considerable step away from writing polished pop punk songs, moving into the emotionally charged territory of bands like Living With Lions and Polar Bear Club, leaving behind catchy choruses and bouncy rhythms for more songwriting depth overall.
That trend continues on "There Used To Be A Place For Us", now to an extent that it's difficult to believe this is still the same band as the one that wrote "Vices" in 2011. It's a darker and heavier record instrumentally; vocally the use of melancholic croons instead of sugar-coated pop singing adds to that flavour. On occasion, such as on "Whole", and arguably also on "Maps", we are treated to a brighter sound that recalls their pop punk past. But primarily the band draws from the emotionally charged punk territory with Living With Lions' "Holy Shit" being the closest resemblant sound wise.
That's a good decision because as mentioned before it adds depth to the songs. However, it also comes at a cost. The songs are now less catchy, and generally feel like b-side versions of that Living With Lions record I mentioned earlier. A few reasonably catchy songs do feature on the album, but as a whole the songs lack character and identity, at least in doses that would leave an imprint in your mind once you're done listening to the record. For weeks now I've tried to make it happen with "There Used To Be A Place For Us", but unfortunately the record is lacking in memorable moments that'd take care of that issue. Basically, "There Used To Be A Place For Us" is a prime example of a band evolution sound wise gone wrong.
Download: Whole, Lessons
For the fans of: Misconduct, Living With Lions
Listen: Facebook
Release date 08.10.2013
Animal Style Records