I hear so many insanely catchy songs on the radio these days that it’s impossible to keep up with them all. My preferred genre for a radio station being pop/alternative (you know, no boy bands, no rap/metal, just the slightly edgier end of pop and the less abrasive end of rock). I can’t tell you how many times my curiosity has been piqued by the band who puts out a smash hit song that is lodged in everyone’s brain one month, and that they’re all sick of the next month. Well, most of them anyway. I seem to have a hard time allowing a song to get completely "played out".

The music of Nine Days is perhaps some of the catchiest, most play-out-able stuff I’ve heard in recent years that manages to retain a sense of musical integrity and keeps the songwriting chores in-house. (Many of you know that those things a big deal to me.) You wouldn’t know it if you’ve been listening to pop/rock radio for the last few years. You’d hear their ridiculously addictive single "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" on the radio, catch yourself singing along, wonder who they were, and then forget all about them as soon as they failed to release a second single. Why has that second smash hit not really manifested itself? I honestly don’t know, because their debut album, The Madding Crowd, is packed with tunes that are a perfect fit for the format – which is not to say that they were hand-crafted for the radio. They just have a thing for writing hooks, which is more than I can say for a lot of bands out there, who know how to throw out a few good radio singles, but fail to follow up with the same level of listenability for the majority of an album. Sometimes, you just need a disc full of solid, well-written, high-energy, easily remembered power pop songs. Has this been done before? Oh, yeah it has - ad nauseum. The fact that I like Nine Days merely means that they do it better than almost anyone else I’ve heard on the radio lately. They are the epitome of modern power pop. If that’s not what you’re in the mood for, stop reading here.

So Far Away
Do you dream or do you sleep?
Do you pick and choose amongst the jewels for ones you keep?
Do you wish upon a star?
Or does everything just out of reach seem just too far away?
This track perfectly sums up the band’s attitude right from the beginning, opening up with insistent acoustic guitar chords, building tension as John Hampson begins to sing to a girl who left him, wondering if she regrets cashing out on the relationship and leaving so many possiblities unexplored. The tune of this song is so triumphant and yet edgy – the band sends forth one heckuva solid blast of sound as their other vocalist, Brian Desveaux, takes over for the chorus, nicely countering John’s smoother vocals with his raspy, gritty voice, somewhere between Michael W. Smith and the lead singer of Aerosmith, if that makes any sense. This dual vocal attack proves to be one of the band’s biggest strengths as the song unwinds, providing a perfect balance between a poppy melody and straight up rock and roll. Instead of wallowing in misery over the missing lover, the song greets her with a sort of sneer, reminding her that she’s missing out on something great, and she’ll never forgive herself if she doesn’t come back. It’s also a bit of an inspirational tune – you know, get off your butt and reach for your goals.

Absolutely (Story of a Girl)
Your clothes never wear as well the next day
And your hair never falls in quite the same way
You never seem to run out of things to say...
I'm only gonna write about this song for the sake of completion. Obviously, it’s what got me hooked on the band, mostly due to its obnoxiously catchy chorus – John singing "This is the story of a girl…" is the very first thing you hear before the rest of the band kicks in. It’s a fairly typical alt-pop portrait of a girl in despair, someone who refuses to believe in herself and would rather be melancholy and pretty much drive the people around her insane. Yet when she smiles, something magical happens. Maybe most of you are tired of it by now, but I’m not ashamed to admit I’ll never tire of this song. Once again, a perfect slice of power pop. My favorite lyric from this song would have to be: NOTE: This is the only track on the album that contains a swear word. Instead of not-so-slyly editing the word out on the radio, an almost identical version was released which says "To put up with this every day and all day" instead of "To put up with this s--- day after day." You should be able to find the other version on Napster with some persistence, if you care about that sort of thing.

If I Am
The answers we find are never what we had in mind
So we make it up as we go along...
This was supposed to be the band’s second single… surprisingly, despite it being a perfect fit for radio, it doesn’t seem to be doing as well. I have yet to hear it on the radio here in L.A., but then, the deejays here tend to be pretty snobbish and stick to the strict top 40. But I’ll save you my usual rant about the radio. Once again wasting no time, John’s vocals greet you almost immediately at the beginning of this song, as he describes a lover "standing on a ledge" and about to drop over the side, which is reminiscent of Third Eye Blind’s big hit "Jumper". Rather than describe a suicidal person, though, it once again deals with a relationship gone wrong, but this time on a slightly gentler note. Rather than taunting her for leaving him, John is trying to persuade the girl to hang on and give him a chance, realizing that he’s made mistakes, but promising her that he’s not just here to play games with her heart. Realizing that she can’t take him at his word just yet, he assures her that his intentions will come clear soon enough if she just gives him another chance. I’ve known that feeling before – you want to make someone trust you, but you know you’ve hurt them before, and all you can do is ask them to let you win them back over time. My only explanation for this song being less successful on the radio is that the chorus is a little more subdued, but that’s not a good enough explanation in my mind!

End Up Alone
What you wear is who you are
The odds are in and you'll go far
A penny for your thoughts, you'll see
A nickel buys you what you need...
Track #4 is definitely a witty song, possibly about the life of a stereotypical rock star, and the fickle nature of fame. Hey, who better to address this than a band that some people write off as a one-hit wonder? The song has a more cynical attitude to it, bumping along comfortably on a solid beat, punctuated by a "beep beep" sort of sound that I think is coming from one of the guitars. Like in "So Far Away", the exchange between John and Brian on the vocals is quite satisfying – John sings the mellower verses, Brian breaks in with a more intense lead-in to the chorus, and then they sing together during the chorus. The song describes fame in terms similar to that of a zoo or a circus, wondering at the end why we "all end up dead, drunk or stoned." I guess death is inevitable – I would hope drinking and drugs are avoidable! In any case, it’s a amusing track, with a nice abrupt ending (another hallmark of a good power pop band). They even make a not-so-subtle reference to the Rolling Stones, who are probably infamous at this point for being over-the-hill rock stars. Cute.

Sometimes
I can’t expect you to respect me
Until I’ve learned to respect myself...
Here we have the first ballad on the project – it gives itself away with the softer strumming at the beginning, but still packs a punch once it gets going. It’s also the first song led entirely by Brian, and he does a great job of packing emotion into this, getting a sweeter melody out of his edgy voice than you might expect. Though it seems to be based around the whole "If you love someone, set them free" clich�, it makes quite a compelling argument in favor of that clich�. Brian knows that he’s let someone down, and that she needs time and space, and he chalks it up as a lesson learned.

Bob Dylan
Sow the strength that grows from seeds, worship creativity
If I am only dreaming, then me and Bob are not that far today
So long as I’m young...
This one would seem to be more of a novelty song from its title, something you might expect from the Barenaked Ladies or They Might Be Giants. It’s really a cute song, even if Brian’s hyperactively bouncy verses seem annoying at first. This is one of those songs where the band throws in everything but the kitchen sink – programmed beats, record scratching, twangy acoustic guitars, and some classically incomprehensible samples of Bob Dylan himself add to the whimsical nature of the song without overpowering it. The song is really more of a testament to the misunderstood artist, and his struggle to be accepted – by girls or by the public at large. Though the song has a definite verse and chorus, it runs through a few different melodic refrains all after one another, straying slightly from the formula and finally coming back to the first verse, as if the band knows when they did something that you thought was catchy and worth repeating.

257 Weeks
And it’s such a shame that I can’t tell you anything
You don’t hear me, still you endear me now...
This is yet another Nine Days instant classic: upbeat, catchy, and fun-fun-fun. By now you’re either loving this band or about to throw up (and I’m guessing if you’re the latter, you prefer your music a lot more on the moody side, which is fine, but I told you to stop reading six paragraphs ago!) It’s basically another bouncy, motivational song, built around the story of the guys rise to realizing their dream of playing in a well-known rock and roll band. Okay, they’re not huge yet, but I’d say they’ve done well so far. The point is, it may take a while (if you do the math, 257 weeks is almost five years), but laziness is not an excuse for losing sight of your goals. Perhaps there are other, "safer" career choices out there, but can you ever really forgive yourself for not doing that one thing you feel truly called to do? John really wails on the chorus to this song as it bounces along on its Fastball-influenced piano line. The song's basic message seems to be this - You think I’m this cool rebel rock star, yet you don’t believe me when I tell you this could be you up here on this stage if it was what you really wanted.

Bitter
So carry your blues behind your eyes
Don’t flatter yourself, I will survive...
This aptly named ballad takes the album into quieter, more dramatic territory after another tasty abrupt transition. It seems like a more personal song from Brian, who leads during the entire six minutes plus of this ballad, which is purposefully backed with strings just to give it that faux-epic sound. It’s really quite pretty for a song that really lives up to its name – Brian is a bitter man, and not afraid to go off on the girl he just broke up with. I don’t know if I can fully get behind the almost childish name calling here, and still, you get the feeling he just woke up and said, "What the heck am I doing with this girl?" due to how "shallow and selfish" he makes her out to be. He does more than just tell her she sucks for not being the right one for him – he cautions her that she’ll never get out of her rut if she doesn’t make an effort to change – once again, a theme that relates back to "So Far Away". Even if it seems incongruous, you have to love how the strings build higher and higher, carrying the song along quite nicely.

Back to Me
Now she hides the faith she fears
She throws herself before her bed of lies
She'll be sorry...
This one may win the prize for the most ridiculously catchy song of the year 2000. I can just tell from listening to the first few lines that some people are gonna love it while others are gonna be driven absolutely insane by its insistent, stick-in-your-head quality. It starts off much like "Absolutely", except that Brian is singing this time out, starting off once again with the chorus – just his raspy voice and a few stark guitar notes. The way he ends every other line of the chorus on a resounding high note is the part that will really get to you – for better of for worse. Once the full band dives into it, the listener is greeted with a wonderful mix of rock and folk – there are some mandolins or banjos or something jamming along with the band quite noticeably, and it’s just a thrill. I doubt it’ll win the band any country crossover – the song’s still too firmly planted in top 40 pop/rock, but I don’t really care who decides to play it as long as someone does! Anyway, Brian seems to have changed his mind about this cruel, immature person who left him, because now he wants her back. How’s that for inconsistency? But at least he’s honest. He confesses to being selfish, and yet at the same time admits that he had to be somewhat selfish – he had to look out for both of their needs, and he didn’t do a good enough job of either. It’s a pretty dependable song – you’ll get to hear that catchy chorus over and over, returning to it at just the right time after each verse, plus a zippy little guitar and drum jam in the middle of the song.

Crazy
You can't take back half of what you give
And you won't remember half the life you've lived...
The next song opens up with a nice little drum-and-cymbal riff, building the rhythm from there, but turns out to be slightly less exciting on a musical level than the rest of the CD. Not that it’s a bad song – but we are starting to get to the point where the song titles, lyrics and musical style sound a bit recycled. The mellower musical context sounds something like a compromise between a rock ballad and a country ballad, if that makes any sense. I guess I’m just getting a little weary of the whole "You’re away and I miss you and it’s driving me nuts" theme. However, the song still gets in the occasional clever lyric, so not all is lost.

Revolve
I want to crawl inside your womb
I want to watch the rose on your cheeks bloom
I want to be the face in the moon
And watch the stars spin around your room...
To put it quite simply, this song is a straight-ahead rocker dealing with obsession. Even if the devotion John is singing of here seems a little over the top (hey, remember Sting in "Every Breath You Take", the most well-known stalker song of all time?), the lyrics fit so tightly together and stick to their theme so well that I can’t call this anything other than a solid song. The band prefers to simply blaze along full throttle on this one instead of lacing it with their usual bounciness, but it’s just as memorable.

Wanna Be
Should I feel some closure, I deserve that at least
And would you be so kind to show reasons for your release?
The album's closer is predictably mellow, but it floats by nicely, driven by the bass and piano, giving the guitars a rest for the most part. Once again led by Brian (who hasn’t really been showcased on the radio singles but who has really turned in some great vocal performances here), the song takes one last look at… who else? A former lover. Normally, I’d be sick of the repeating theme, but on some albums, it just works, and this and Matchbox 20’s Mad Season are two such albums (note the similarity: two number bands with "Mad" in their album title.) Anyway, this song grounds us in a little more specificity, describing walks on the beach and through the trees with this mysterious lover who apparently vanished without a trace, leaving Brian wanting much more of her. It’s a sad song, with a much healthier outlook than "Bitter", in my opinion. All he wants is an explanation for why she felt the need to tease him and then leave him hanging. At over six minutes, the song runs a little long, but it’s an effective, meditative way to close an album devoted largely to the confusion of modern relationships.

If you’re looking for similar artists, Matchbox 20 ain’t bad, though Nine Days draws from a brighter musical palette and spends a decent amount of time away from the broken relationship topic. A chunkier version of Vertical Horizon wouldn’t be a bad comparison either. If, like many of my readers, you’re into Christian music, but will listen to mainstream music from time to time, you’d find nothing objectionable here unless the solitary swear word bugs you. You’d probably find this a lot like All Star United with a little more acoustic flavor here and there. In any case, if you like radio-friendly modern pop/rock with clever lyrics, I wholeheartedly recommend Nine Days. I can’t be certain if they’ll stay afloat among the myriad of similar bands out there, especially with only one big radio hit to their credit so far, but I think they’ll earn the respect of the music scene if they hang in there as trendier bands come and go.

TRACK REVIEW SUMMARY
Excellent: So Far Away, Absolutely (Story of a Girl), If I Am, Back to Me
Good: End Up Alone, Sometimes, Bob Dylan, Bitter
Decent: 257 Weeks, Crazy, Revolve, Wanna Be
Weak: NONE
Skippable: NONE

Band Members:
John Hampson – Vocals, guitars
Brian Desveaux – Vocals, guitars
Nick Dimichino - Bass
Vincent Tattanelli – Drums, percussion (has since left the band)
Jeremy Dean - Hammond B3, piano, keyboards

Website: http://www.nine-days.com

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving