Save Yourself Start Again

Boston band Long Lost recently entered the fold with the release of their debut album Save Yourself, Start Again.  What began as a side project for former Transit singer Joe Boynton back in 2010 has now blossomed into a full-fledged band after signing with No Sleep Records a year ago.  The music is emotive and Boynton's voice delivers, but a few cheesy tracks keep the record anchored to mediocrity.

Save Yourself, Start Again opens with "Not Worth It" - a song about women dealing with bad boyfriends and the like.  This seems to be a recurring theme on the album as the up-tempo "Wild Hearts" also mentions an abusive boyfriend.  Long Lost is decisively indie rock, but Boynton’s snarky delivery on “Look Back And Wave” feels borderline punk.  The band deviates again from the majority of their work on “Clean Slate” featuring a sing-along-bar-song ending.  The highlight of the album is “Want” where Boynton sings about want being a fleeting word and that our society is wanting all the time.  The songwriting on this particular track really makes it stand out from the bunch.

Unfortunately, songwriting on other portions of the album aren’t nearly as strong.  “Drive With Me” is the corny, mellow tune that you pretty much expect it to be based on the title.  Ditto for “You Can Always Come Home” with cheesy lyrics and random double-track vocals near the conclusion.  Both songs end up sounding extremely uninspired, generic, and fall into the dreaded been-there-heard-that category.  Boynton certainly has talent, but much of the material on Save Yourself, Start Again is weak and underwhelming.  I suggest checking out “Want” and awaiting future, hopefully better, releases.