Save Your Breath – Nothing Worth Having Comes Easy

I was shocked when I learned that pop-punk five-piece Save Your Breath originated from South Wales and not some sunny SoCal suburb.  The young group finds contemporaries in groups like Broadway Calls, Saves The Day, and New Found Glory more than the darker sounds of regional superstars The Lost Prophets – or for a more stylistically appropriate comparison, Funeral For A Friend.  Consequently, Save Your Breath has become somewhat of a big deal in their local scene – although ultimately a big fish in a little pond.

However, in signing with stateside label Adeline Records (Green Day, Broadway Calls), the local sensations have a chance at testing their merits in the land of bubblegum punk.  In anticipation of their arrival, the label is reissuing their debut EP, Nothing Worth Having Comes Easy, along with two North American bonus tracks.  Consequently they find themselves facing an inescapable question: can the young upstarts rise above the faceless pop-punk masses and justify themselves to an audience in an oversaturated market?

Well, that’s a tough call; and the best answer might actually be hidden in the album title.  For starters, Nothing Worth Having Comes Easy is quite a safe record.  Fans of the modern SoCal sound will probably take kindly to the big hooks and tuneful melodies carrying tracks like “Holy Shit! Fortune Teller, Miracle Fish” and “Not In The Mood For Kiwi.”  Catchy choruses, gang vocals, and some token “woahs” provide a comfortable and familiar take on the genre.  But there in lies the problem.  Save Your Breath lacks a real defining sense of self.  They know the mechanics, but come across as if simply going through the motions.  If asked how the band defines themselves against their peers, I’d come up empty.

But that isn’t to say Save your Breath should just pack it in and head home.  There’s a lot of potential here (from a mechanical standpoint this is top notch pop-punk).  So returning to the album title, Save Your Breath needs to listen to their own message and focus on elevating their sound to memory.  As of now, the bonus track “Your Oven’s On Fire” shows promise, offering a succinct two-minute take on motivational calls to arms, and a glimmer of intelligent lyrics akin to recent pop-punk heavyweights The Wonder Years.  However, the remainder still leaves something to be desired.

But at the very least Save Your Breath’s North American debut justifies their inter-continental ambitions, providing an appreciable foundation from which to grow.  They certainly have their work cut out for them, and they’re going to have to do some serious soul searching in order to take their sound to the next level; but for a skilled band that understands the merits of hard work, they have my confidence.