I was lurking at Hawthorne Heights Myspace page today and I noticed that the big promo pic at the top was shot right here in good ol’ Chico, in Upper Bidwell Park, known around here as simply Upper Park. It seems like the last year or so Upper Park has been in more many emo band pics as Paul Frank. First there’s the cover of the new Saves The Day record, Under The Boards, which makes sense since STD frontman Chris Conley has been known to lurk around these parts:

Then there’s also the video for Number One Gun’s “Wake Me Up,” which makes a lot of sense, since Number One Gun aka Jeff Schneeweis live right here in Chico. In fact, if you look hard enough at that Hawthorne pic you can see a couple pieces of that door that Jeff smashes at around the 3:12 mark in the video, still kicking it on the hillside thar. Wake Me Up, moar liek PICK IT UP AMIRITE?? KEEP BIDWELL PARK BEYOUTEEFUL!!!1

UPDATE: It turns out that the backdrop in the above Hawthorne pic is actually the cover art for their new CD, Fragile Futures.

So it’s Friday night, and instead of being out doing what twentysomething dudes are supposed to be doing, my friends and I are huddled around a shitty Sony boombox in the Synthesis office listening to the new Saves the Day record, Under the Boards. It basically rules. I mean, I like In Reverie well enough and all, but as far as the majority of Saves the Day fans are concerned, that album was the lowpoint of the band’s career, with the ensuing follow-up, Sound the Alarm being something of a step back in the right direction. Under the Boards is a continuation of this, though certain aspects of the “new” Saves the Day -  Chris Conley’s more semi-Beatlesesque vocal affect, guitars with less oomph and more jangle - do carry over. But for the most part, Under the Boards should satisfy both Saves the Day veterans and newbs. Its nothing spectacular, but it’s definitely another step back in the right direction.