Say Anything - Say Anything

Say Anything - Say Anything

I'll always consider this a new era for Say Anything. The first album and EPs were Max Bemis going through high school and college and dealing with everything that comes with it, cliques, adolescent romances, the feelings of being an outcast. The next 2 albums ...Is A Real Boy and In Defense Of The Genre were where he was really finding himself as a song writer and as a person, dealing with anxiety, drug use, promiscuity, and self loathing. This album is a departure from that which is definitely polarizing. Off the drugs, doing much better in life, and in love, this album is no where near the neurotic mess the last two albums were (mean that in a good way) and instead a lot smoother and more polished. Some people who latched on to the rough edges of the previous albums will find this disheartening and probably not even give this album a chance. While it is not as rough as before it's still full of all the angst, brilliant lyrics, and catharsis that makes Say Anything so great.

Less Cute is probably one of the most creative songs Say Anything has ever written, musically it goes back and forth between a big band style and a more traditional indie-rock style. Lyrically it's flawless, telling the tale from the perspective of a female who's been shunned by a lover and now is settling with someone else. We've all been there, and it's interesting to hear Max step outside of himself. Hate Everyone is a more traditional Say Anything song, taking a great rock sound with lyrics telling basically an entire life, pure poetry. Mara And Me is this album's Admit It! taking on fake people everywhere. No one is safe, not even Max himself as he puts it "I can't write the same damn song over and over again". That line sums up this album to me, it's not like anything before because if you just write the same songs over it becomes boring and fall out of relevance.

This album does feature some of the 'poppyiest' songs Say Anything has ever written. Particularly the song Crush'd which was clearly written as a way to proclaim his love for his now wife Sherri. It's a decent song, really but comes off even more sappy than Shiksa (Girlfriend) was. It's a cute song really but it just feels a little out of place for the band. The song Cemetery is another one clearly written for her. I don't mean that in a bad way really, it's probably one of my favorite songs, it's just a little out of place from what we've come to expect from Say Anything.

I wish people, especially older Say Anything fans would be more willing to give this album a chance. Once you get past the poppy love songs and get over the more polished production, it's still Say Anything underneath. Death For My Birthday is probably the darkest and most depressing songs they've ever done. It's still full of self loathing and angst just in a less chaotic and coarse package. It's definitely more accessible as an album to really fans of pop, pop punk, emo, indie rock, etc. It signifies a new era for the band that should be celebrated.