During the writing of Sound the Alarm, Conley was heavily influenced by Bad Brains, The Damned, The Misfits and The Stooges. Conley, with Saves the Day, has released four other albums. Lyrically, all are considered similar except for "In Reverie", which is a more positive album. Conley cites a lack of turmoil in his life at the time as the cause of the change in tone. He commented in "Rolling Stone" magazine that Saves the Day's release "Sound the Alarm", is "about the black clouds inside my mind; It was these intense fears and paranoia and diluted thoughts that were eating me alive. It was utter insanity." in regards to the failure of "In Reverie" and subsequent release from DreamWorks.