SAFE HAVEN

I thought that these guys would be harder. More punk oriented. When you’ve got a guy gracing the album cover with a blood-red mohawk, it just says, “old school punk”. Or at least that’s what I thought it said. In actuality, Safe Haven is a 4-piece out on sunny Chandler, Arizona that’s pretty much anything but old school punk. Gone is the pop-punk sound of their debut release and in it’s place is a far more subdued and radio-friendly rock. Maybe not quite CCM rock… but pretty close. There’s still a touch of the punk influence here and there, and while there are some definite flashes of what could be, this ballad-heavy release builds and builds but just never seems to peak. You can feel that they could break it loose and make something happen, but they just don’t.

If you liked their first CD “Setting Up & Tearing Down”, than you should probably like this one as well. While different stylistically, they’re on pretty equal footing as far as overall comparisons go. Personally, I would have liked to see a bit more musical maturity this time out rather than just a quasi-genre shift, but the song-writing still strikes me as a bit amateurish. That may work for the pop-punk crowd, but in more discriminating circles it stands out. Not that many of the songs aren’t enjoyable… they are, it’s just that many of them also feel more like roughed out ideas than finished products.

Lyrically, Safe Haven pretty much holds the party line. They’re upfront with their faith in a subtle sorta way. If that makes sense. God plays a role in many of their songs but is typically portrayed as the ambiguous ‘you’. For the most part the lyrics were well-crafted and often contained some very cool lines like “collect the pennies just to pay the rent” or “what you learn to lose, you learn to love again”.

The standout track was “Wake Up” which is a simple song with a simple message to come to your senses and press on in life. Kind of a ode to the prodigal son in a way. At least that’s the way I took it. “Reckless” was undoubtedly my least favorite. I had to remember to turn it down so that the neighbor’s dog wouldn’t howl. Okay, so it wasn’t that bad… but it was definitely down on my enjoy-o-meter.

Production is very good. Packaging is also very good. The presentation is well conceived and professionally presented. Having lots of band photos is always a nice touch so you can kinda get an impression of the guys behind the music.

Overall: Safe Haven is no doubt a talented group of guys. And “In The Middle Of Destruction” is a decent enough album. But given that two years elapsed between their freshman and sophomore releases, I can’t help but feel that they should have brought more to the table the second time out than just a lateral move to a different style. It’s still worth checking out, but keep your expectations in check. Kudos, however, that a portion of the proceeds ($5.00, I think) from every CD sold goes to charity. - INDIE VISION MUSIC

Every once in awhile I get to catch onto a relatively unknown band on a national level that could easily play with the big boys but haven’t quite gotten all the breaks that they need. I’ve tried keeping tabs on Safe Haven ever since I saw them in what was probably 2007 on a small tour with Olivia The Band when both bands were playing a fun style of pop punk, which was probably eight years too late for most people, but is never too late for me. Though they have fundamentally changed their style to something more along the lines of something between pop rock and straight up radio rock, they have kept with a tight sound and definitive, anthemic vocals that make use of gang vocals that make getting into the song accessible without sacrificing integrity. - CHRISTIAN MUSIC ZINE

The genre of pop-punk is a sinking ship, yet for some reason bands keep jumping on board. They look at the success of bands like Fall Out Boy or Boys Like Girls and figure out that it's not too hard to play, so that's the direction they ought to go. Unfortunately, they don't see the other hundreds of bands trying to do the exact same thing. Sure, there are hooks, sure it's catchy, and it's an energy-infused EP, but none of this sets Safe Haven apart from the rest.

Setting Up and Tearing Down is an album that will get my head bopping while listening and if I hear it, you can bet your ass I'll be singing along. Only problem is that if I'm not listening to it, I don't remember a damn thing about it; there is nothing about it that burns it into my memory.

Vocally, this album is decent. At times, the vocals draw the listener in, but most times, they are very bland and don't do much for the listener. It's pretty clear that Gil Sandoval could sing very well if he really wanted to, but for some reason he doesn't utilize his talent for most of the album. The lyrics on this album are not only one of the lower points, but probably the most generic thing about the album. Most of them sound like they could have been stolen right out of Pete Wentz's notebook, while others are sappier than even Mr. Wentz could pen. The line that comes to mind is "Life sucks / but it's something we all have to go through," which is just cringe worthy.

Musically, they seem to be extremely below-average. The majority of the songs here have the same two or three chords playing the entire time at the same tempo. The way the do this makes almost all of the songs sound identical to one another. The drums also fail to present anything that I haven't heard before, as most of the drum parts are beats that have been used in countless other songs.

I honestly hate writing reviews like this; I wish that all of the newer bands presented something different and exciting, as opposed to the same regurgitated sound over and over. However, most of what comes out falls into the latter category and that's what I have to work with. I can only pray that bands start to experiment with their music a little more, allowing them to have a much more promising future. - ABSOLUTE PUNK