By Sarah R. Schwartz ’10

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, you’ve heard of Saving Jane. Their single “Girl Next Door” has been featured as the theme of MTV’s Tiara Girls and was included on the hit compilation Now 22. For those of us attempting to hide from cable television and ignore the top 40 as a rule, it’s easy to dismiss Saving Jane as just another well-produced pop placeholder. But if you haven’t already taken a second look, Saving Jane is quite possibly the band that will make you second-guess your pop prejudices.

Front woman Marti Dodson looks the part of pop princess, but if you take a moment to listen to the lyrics you’ll find that the only thing she shares with Spears or Gaga is hair color. “Girl Next Door” is stunningly realistic and relatable, something that Pop was always meant to be before the frenzied media market pushed performers beyond the brink of, well, normality. The song serves as a down-to-earth confession, a girl struggling with self-image, frustrated that she is never in the limelight. It is certainly a topic that is a little more relatable than circus ringleaders or paparazzi.

Dodson is college-educated, and knows firsthand that there is more to it than shaking the goods on camera. She has grown annoyed by the music industry marketing songs with sex rather than substance. Saving Jane’s newest album, One Girl Revolution, was a reaction to major label producers and publicity agents. Dodson was irritated by a slough of photos that had been airbrushed. Considering her young fans, she didn’t want anyone to think that she really looked like that. Dodson’s natural beauty is complemented by her edgy style.

Dodson along with guitarist Pat Buzzard, drummer Dak Goodman and bassist Jeremy Martin, is definitely not on a 24-7 crusade. The band knows how to make fun of themselves and have a good time. Goodman can be spotted on YouTube playing drums—on the loo! When questioned about it, he was entirely unaware that it had showed up on the Web.

“Marti and I were shooting a video for the new album, and the label and I thought it would be funny to do something like that as a joke,” he says, “but I didn’t realize they were putting it up on YouTube!” Proof enough that pop bands can run from media-driven overexposure, but they can’t hide.

Saving Jane will be headlining Arcadia’s Spring Fling Woodstock on Saturday, April 24.