Save Face
photo by Dieter Unrath

Save Face sign to Epitaph (hear new single "Bad")

NJ’s Save Face have been kicking around the punk scene for a few years, and if you go to The Fest or tend to catch Fest-y bands live, there’s a good chance you’ve seen them (they just wrapped up a short run of shows with The Menzingers and Mannequin Pussy last month). The band has now signed to Epitaph, where their melodic punk fits in perfectly. “Epitaph put out a lot of the records that made us want to play music,” said vocalist/guitarist Tyler Povanda. “There’s few other places we could go that would allow us to push the boundaries of our creative potential, and to say that we’re excited about that would be an understatement.”

Save Face’s first release for the label is their new single “Bad,” which follows last year’s Folly: On The Rocks, an acoustic and piano reworking of 2016’s Folly EP. Folly showed a band with a lot of promise, but “Bad” is the best thing that Save Face have done yet. It’s fueled by a hefty power chord riff that brings to mind Saves the Day’s “Anywhere With You” or The Menzingers’ “In Remission,” and it makes great use of the quiet verse/LOUD chorus formula that those two songs (and tons of ’90s rock hits) follows. In Save Face’s case, the chorus to “Bad” is a scream-sung banger that’s full of passion, aggression, and enough melodicism to get stuck in your head after one listen. They throw in a heroic guitar solo and a noisy bridge for good measure, and it’s all delivered with muscular musicianship, intense precision, and crisp production. This is melodic punk done right.

We’re premiering the song and its video, and you can check that out below. Save Face are also touring this month with Boston Manor, Free Throw, Homesafe and Hot Mulligan, including stops in Chicago, Philly, Hartford, and more. All dates are listed below.

Save Face — 2018 Tour Dates
Apr 10 Buffalo, NY – Mohawk Place
Apr 11 Pittsburgh, PA – Cattivo
Apr 12 Lakewood, OH – Mahall’s
Apr 13 Ferndale, MO – The Loving Touch
Apr 14 Chicago, IL – Subterranean
Apr 15 St. Louis, MO – Fubar
Apr 17 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
Apr 18 Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506
Apr 19 Richmond, VA – Strange Matter
Apr 20 Philadelphia, PA – Voltage Lounge
Apr 21 Hartford, CT – The Webster

all dates with Boston Manor, Free Throw, Homesafe, Hot Mulligan