Through Being Cool is the second studio album by American rock band Saves the Day, released on November 2, 1999, by Equal Vision.

The album was recorded in 11 days and represented the band's transition from a melodic hardcore sound to a more pop punk style.

Eventually selling 50,000 copies, the success of Through Being Cool helped Saves the Day to sign with Vagrant Records.

[3] Saves the Day had three different lineup changes while touring in support of Can't Slow Down, leaving vocalist Chris Conley and Newman as the only original members remaining.

[3] Saves the Day's guitarist, Justin Gaylord, had left at the end of their first full tour of the United States.

[3][nb 1] Conley described Soloway as a kid who "came from bluegrass and his family would sit around singing folk songs and stuff at home.

[3] With this lineup, the band entered Shoulder to the Wheel studios in March 1999 and recorded an acoustic EP, I'm Sorry I'm Leaving.

[3] Unfortunately, the experience of recording in a studio nearly led to Newman having a breakdown, as he was not used to the environment; he later noted that the entire process "was intense".

The band, attempting to finish the album, pulled all-nighters, relaxing in the control room, and sleeping in the lounge.

In an interview with Alternative Press, Conley that while other people might have thought the group was trying to rush through production, he and his band members were actually "just having a blast".

"[9] The album has a more pop punk sound compared to Can't Slow Down, which was a melodic hardcore-driven record.

[12] While working on Through Being Cool, Conley listened to the Foo Fighters' The Colour and the Shape (1997), Weezer's Pinkerton (1996), and Joni Mitchell's Blue (1971), among others.

[3][nb 3] The cover artwork that was eventually chosen depicts the band as social outcasts, sitting on a couch during a high school party.

[2] Sandshaw felt that cover would give the wrong impression to hardcore fans, and Newman regretted it after the album was released.

[7] The CD art features Gabe Saporta kissing a girl, while the back cover has actor James Ransone passed out on a couch.

[3] Dropping out of college to give the album live exposure, the band built a big fan base along the east coast.

[2] In an issue of CMJ New Music Report dated May 2000, it was announced that due to the success of Through Being Cool,[23][nb 6] Saves the Day had signed with Vagrant Records.

[27] AllMusic reviewer Vincent Jeffries noted that, for Through Being Cool, the band went for a "punchier production," using it to foreground Conley's "romantic teen declarations".

[28] Ritt opined that "Banned from the Back Porch" "rock[ed] pretty hard," making listeners want to "thrash a little harder in the mosh pit" while Jeffries noted the song sounded similar to metal.

[28] Alternative Press writer Colin McGuire argued that Through Being Cool influenced a new wave of pop-punk bands, such as Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, and Taking Back Sunday.

[28] Tris McCall of NJ.com cited the album as "every third-wave emo band's inspiration [...] [sending] a shockwave through the pop-punk underground.

[35] The album was included in Rock Sound's 101 Modern Classics list at number 60, with the notation that "pop-punk has not been the same since [1999], and this record play[ed] a major role in that change.