Save The Lost Boys – Temptress

Dayton, Ohio pop-punk act Save The Lost Boys clearly grew up on a diet of Blink 182 and Bowling For Soup.  The nasally vocal interplay between co-vocalists Lee Weiss and Josh Hall is slick and melodic while maintaining the quick and pointed hooks that a 19 year old me would have eagerly sought out at the Vans Warped Tour.  The band’s latest effort, Temptress, does so while maintaining the relevance and contemporary draw to the pop-punk “revival” scene currently propelled by Neck Deep and The Wonder Years.  

The quartet isn’t particularly deep in their approach, but they’re certainly catchy.  Much like those before them, Save The Lost Boys plays simple pop-punk ditties about juvenile crushes and girlfriends-to-be with a naivety and innocence that somehow captures the spark of discovery, without degrading into a practice of stating the obvious.  Tracks like “Wasting My Time” and “Bad Names” jump back and forth between 90’s and 00’s pop-punk drumming before launching into a host of immediately appealing pop-punk hooks and jabs.  In the latter, the band’s playful humour even “pops” in their light-hearted description of fantasizing revenge upon the drama queen perhaps alluded to in the album title.  “You give all girls bad names… I wish I’d care when I cut all your break lines,” humours the band before pacifying their intentions with the line, “speaking figuratively of course.”  The album largely maintains a playful delivery, but during tracks like “DAY>FLL” more so favours the song writing of New Found Glory or All American Reject, in effect driving some less distinct pockets throughout Temptress.

But Save The Lost Boys also positions a few well placed surprises along the way.  For instance, “Dancing (feat. Tyler Smith)” infuses a late song bridge with rap featuring Tyler Smith, and shockingly, it’s not terrible (which characterized my last encounter with hip-hop punk fusions in The Front Bottoms).  Smith’s flow actually matches the overall rhythm and blends in seamlessly without hijacking the song.  In another instance, the band tames their tempo for “Things I Could Never Forget,” which takes on the identity as the token slow song with poise and dignity.

Save The Lost Boys follow a simple formula.  They don’t have all the production excess that plagues contemporary pop-punk, instead focusing on layered vocals and quick, catchy tempos.  Save The Lost Boys present as just four guys writing and playing songs without a keyboard or soundboard to speak of.  It’s refreshing – especially on a label like Victory Records and with album art that suggests they’d love to be the next Fall Out Boy.