Saliva brings new message about survival

As fans struggle to survive, they have shared many stories with the band.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Saliva's Josey Scott calls it a curveball when his Memphis, Tenn., band throws fans something different on a new album. For its 2004 release "Survival of the Sickest," the unexpected was actually a shot of Southern rock, 3 Doors Down style.
In fact, album track "Razor's Edge" features 3 Doors Down singer Brad Arnold for what amounts to a new millennium Skynyrd sound.
"I think the last album was straight up American rock 'n' roll, and there are certain things I think a band has to get out of their system on certain records," said Scott, calling from Madison, Wis. "It depends on how we're feeling at the time. 'Survival of the Sickest' was definitely an '80s, in-your-face, rock 'n' roll type, fast cars, fast money, fast [women] type record."
Shifting gears
He added, "That was our 'Back in Black' and 'Girls, Girls, Girls' type thing, and this next record I think is more focused. We've spent more time on it, and it's more a galvanization of where we are in our lives and what we're doing now. A lot of us have gotten married and are having babies. We're at that stage."
Perhaps it's their age or the world in which they've living, but Saliva appears headed for a major downshift in not only style but content. Such a buzz kill came about during its current yearlong "Survival of the Sickest" tour, in which fans have flocked to tell the band about their own tales of survival. Initially, this caught the group off guard.
Band listens
Here they are looking to party -- and with good reason; they are in a rock 'n' roll band after all -- but in the process they became listeners to people in need. The result will be heard on the band's next album "The Rise and Fall of a Glorified Kingdom," which is due to be recorded later this year and released in early 2006.
"I think we've heard more about stories of people trying to survive in this world, and I think that's going to play into what 'Rise and Fall' is about," said Scott.
"We've heard stories from soldiers and husbands over in Iraq, and mothers left home with kids. We've had soldiers come to our bus saying they're re-enlisting and going back over there, and we've had people tell us how trying this time has been on them and how it's another Vietnam and how we should get out of there."
A message of healing
Perhaps such reality isn't what one would expect from a party band whose biggest hit is "Click Click Boom," from the 2001 release "Every Six Seconds."
So while you can be sure Saliva will be having a good time when it plays Youngstown for the first time Wednesday at The Cellar, know going in there's catharsis and a message of healing in its hard and heavy music.
"I think this tour has been a lot about people surviving and with 9/11 and the climate of the world now," Scott said.
"With New Orleans being destroyed, America has taken some black eyes and bloody noses over the past four or five years. People are just trying to survive now. I think they love music, and they love the honest emotion that is portrayed in our songs and our records. That's what they latch onto. And I pray that they continue to do that."