SAVE FACE - MERCI / REWIND

Supporting Coast To Coast in The Borderline was where the band first presented themselves and their bouncy riff filled punk. Strength in their vocals and unique enunciation helped add to their emo inspired lyrics which fully fledged in their latest project Merci - released last summer on Epitaph. The perfect replacement for long standing heroes Modern Baseball with the edge of the worlds increasing interest in harder guitar tones, the project contains screams, cleverly constructed guitar progressions and soft poetic tracks awash with delicate melody.

The record begins with a theatrical and powerful expulsion of ‘Bad’ with riffs that comparative to their previous EPs carry much more punch. Backing falsetto and attention to detail show an improved level of respect towards their songwriting and production. Littered with guitar solos throughout, the more classic rock side shines through accompanying the dry percussion thumping and lifting the huge choruses in tracks such as ‘Blues’ ‘Weak’ and “Reds’. Usually a record must deliver consistency and talent, somehow Save Face have shown off what they can do but what they haven’t included by using space and fills to break apart song structures into memorable hooks and notes that usually would be forgotten about or lost into the mix.

A standout feature of this project was always going to be the character and delivery of Tyler’s vocals, adopting this third person himself the emotive softer touches on the record in tracks such as ‘Pour’ and climatic end to the album ‘Yours’ made me shiver alongside the vibrato of his voice. The album clearly designed with its powerful singles to be played live, the tracks suit best listened to in full one after the other. Consistent but sometimes a little repetitive in terms of its style there is no fault with the sonics of the tracks but more with the fact this could easily have been an EP with less songs. However, a narrative is brilliantly established and executed with licks and those call and response vocals, that as confirmed by my introduction to the group, absolutely explode in their live performance.

A record to invest in, its difficult to explain how good it is. Certainly justifying the purchase of the vinyl, I have a feeling I’ll be spinning it in a few years and thinking about just how god damn good it was. Especially making sure to have seen it live again now that I’ve fully discovered the groups tenacity and timelessness.

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