Artist: Safe Haven
Album: Setting Up and Tearing Down
Reviewer: Tyler Hess
Are you ever tired of the artsy-fartsy side of music? I’m pretty sure that some good ole’ pop-punk made the way it should be just might be what you need.
Setting Up and Tearing Down may be a little over a year old, but it is much under appreciated without the backing needed to get this out to as many people as would like this album. Safe Haven could probably use a little bit more creativity in their lyrics, maybe even in their musicianship, but if you want some straight forward lyrics that are both relatable and encouraging, then this is the CD for you.
This band out of southern California offers songs of hope, even when things are hard, even when no one is supporting you, serving us the reminder that there is someone out there who will be there with you all the way through. There are no break up songs, no cute stories about relationships gone awry and no political agenda, just a bunch of dudes that have gone through a lot of the same struggles within the faith that is not uncommon amongst us. Every time I listen to this I sing the whole way through and I always leave encouraged that God is with me.
The one complaint I have about this album, really, is that it is more like a long EP than it is a full length. With only 9 songs, 1 of which is an instrumental that if you aren’t carefully paying attention to, just sounds like the intro to the next song, these guys could definitely working on putting out more product. I hope that these guys stick with it and give us a bit more meat to chew on, but for the time being this is one to hold onto.
8/10
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