Album Review
Say Anything - Say Anything
Chris Illich
Issue date: 12/1/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Max Bemis' third release, the self titled album under his moniker Say Anything, is his strongest piece of work, although some would probably disagree with me due to the cult-like status of Is a Real Boy.
After Bemis came onto the scene five years ago with his 2004 Doghouse Records debut Is a Real Boy, he was heralded as the next great indie-emo lyricist and songwriter. Songs like "Belt", "Woe", and "Spidersong" exemplified his knack for writing catchy pop songs that displayed his word-playing skills effortlessly.
His sophomore album, the 2007 In Defence of the Genre, furthered this notion, yet Bemis relied more on guest vocalists to add an additional level of intimacy to his music. The double-album received mixed reviews, yet most of the songs were, without question, some of the best that he had written to date.
On Say Anthing, Bemis' wordsmith abilities are more than evident, and it is his lyrical passages that make the album so interesting and captivating. Although the catchy first single "I Hate Everyone" has great verses, the chorus lines ultimately fall flat, with Bemis reiterating the song title over and over. These choruses are one of the few and far between moments in which Bemis' lyrics fall short of expectations.
Standout tracks "Do Better" and "Crush'd" supply the listener with a plethora of amazing lyrical fragments. "Do Better" is Bemis's form of a self-help as belts out his frustration to the lazy and mundane people in society (or maybe I'm reading it wrong and it's focused on someone in particular ... maybe I should find a way to ask him). Lyrical highlights of this track include the third verse "Your life is always the post of something else. Where is the present in the way that you present yourself? It's disgusting how little that you try, the existential equivalent of pink eye."
On "Crush'd" there are many other lines that Bemis lovingly spews out to create one of the funnest ballads or love songs I have ever heard. Lines like "You're no witch, you're no wench, you're like Bjork with better fashion sense", and "Respect to your work, you're an artist I'm a silly jerk. I think this dynamic could work", are directed to his wife, Eisley singer Sherri Dupree - and I know that he totally got laid when he first presented this song to her.
All in all, Bemis has released his finest piece of work to date. The variation on the album supplies the listener with a diverse experience. While some songs rely on the pop-punkish sound that was so present on Is a Real Boy, and some songs are fuelled by electronic drums and dancy rhythms, all of the songs are driven by his vocal wizardry, and places him well on top of the genre that he has been trying so hard to defend. RCA - my square brackets wont work.
-Chris Illich
After Bemis came onto the scene five years ago with his 2004 Doghouse Records debut Is a Real Boy, he was heralded as the next great indie-emo lyricist and songwriter. Songs like "Belt", "Woe", and "Spidersong" exemplified his knack for writing catchy pop songs that displayed his word-playing skills effortlessly.
His sophomore album, the 2007 In Defence of the Genre, furthered this notion, yet Bemis relied more on guest vocalists to add an additional level of intimacy to his music. The double-album received mixed reviews, yet most of the songs were, without question, some of the best that he had written to date.
On Say Anthing, Bemis' wordsmith abilities are more than evident, and it is his lyrical passages that make the album so interesting and captivating. Although the catchy first single "I Hate Everyone" has great verses, the chorus lines ultimately fall flat, with Bemis reiterating the song title over and over. These choruses are one of the few and far between moments in which Bemis' lyrics fall short of expectations.
Standout tracks "Do Better" and "Crush'd" supply the listener with a plethora of amazing lyrical fragments. "Do Better" is Bemis's form of a self-help as belts out his frustration to the lazy and mundane people in society (or maybe I'm reading it wrong and it's focused on someone in particular ... maybe I should find a way to ask him). Lyrical highlights of this track include the third verse "Your life is always the post of something else. Where is the present in the way that you present yourself? It's disgusting how little that you try, the existential equivalent of pink eye."
On "Crush'd" there are many other lines that Bemis lovingly spews out to create one of the funnest ballads or love songs I have ever heard. Lines like "You're no witch, you're no wench, you're like Bjork with better fashion sense", and "Respect to your work, you're an artist I'm a silly jerk. I think this dynamic could work", are directed to his wife, Eisley singer Sherri Dupree - and I know that he totally got laid when he first presented this song to her.
All in all, Bemis has released his finest piece of work to date. The variation on the album supplies the listener with a diverse experience. While some songs rely on the pop-punkish sound that was so present on Is a Real Boy, and some songs are fuelled by electronic drums and dancy rhythms, all of the songs are driven by his vocal wizardry, and places him well on top of the genre that he has been trying so hard to defend. RCA - my square brackets wont work.
-Chris Illich
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