How to Save a Life

This Denver-based quartet used a grassroots campaign of their local radio station and newspaper to land a major label recording contract. Their demo of “Over My Head (Cable Car)” was named one of KTCL’s top 30 most played songs of 2004 and Westword Magazine awarded them “Best New Band.” It helps that the band’s piano-based pop rock easily slots in next to adult-contemporary favourites like Five For Fighting and David Gray without missing a beat. Singer Isaac Slade and guitarist Jon King write polite, catchy songs that are earnest and upbeat in their general veneer, recalling both the heartland Americana of Counting Crows and the heart-on-sleeve emotional overkill of Dashboard Confessional. What their debut album lacks in originality or edge is made up for with sincerity and unpretentious presentation. That said, many of the songs here sound similar. “Over My Head”, “How to Save A Life” and “All At Once” are all moderately paced pop songs that sound as if they were written to accompany a network teen drama – filled with pathos and nicely scrubbed.