You have to hand it to Max Bemis, the brainchild behind Say Anything. The man has ambitions.
It could be the 23 guest appearances or the fact that this two-disc release includes almost 90 minutes of music. Either way, Bemis is thinking big. If people pigeonholed Say Anything as that cute emo band that played that, "Called her on the phone/and she touched herself," song, then Bemis is here to slap you in the face.
In Defense of the Genre contains 27 tracks -- seven of which feature only Say Anything. This release kind of resembles Puff Daddy's No Way Out as far as guest appearances go. The only difference, besides the obvious difference in genre, is that Say Anything can hold its own without help from friends.
Guest appearances include: Pete Yorn, My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way, Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba, Taking Back Sunday's Adam Lazzara, Paramore's Hayley Williams and, my personal favorite, Anthony Green.
Two discs of music with cool guest appearances are all well and good, but is the final product any good? Well, that's kind of a tricky question. After putting out an album as remarkable as ...Is a Real Boy, it's going to be tough for In Defense of the Genre to top it, let alone reach the level of its highly acclaimed predecessor.
Unfortunately, this new album is not as charming as ...Is a Real Boy, but it comes close. Instead of self-loathing-yet-surprisingly-earnest songs about meeting girls on the Internet, bad break ups and getting therapy, we are now subjected to songs that touch on most of the same themes, but lack the emotional punch that audiences felt with its predecessor.
Bemis' lyrics are still undeniably his own style, but all the imagery is gone. You won't hear about Bemis' woes with "Molly Connolly," yellow and red cats or hear diatribes about hipster scum. Instead, the lyrics on this album seem unfiltered, almost like Bemis took them right from his journal and decided not to go any further.
In Defense of the Genre shines most when it is at its lightest. "Sorry, Dudes. My Bad" is the highlight of this album, featuring Chris Conley from Saves the Day. On this track, Bemis sings in an apologetic tone for his flaws while one of his band mates assures him through spoken word, "Dude, I know you got your problems. We all do. I'm here with ya, man." Conley then adds "Max, I will sell you this Xanax for $5, and then, we can go to the Waffle House." This song will make you laugh, but it also packs a great hook.
Another standout is Bemis' anti-anti-Semitism song entitled, "Died a Jew." Bemis treads dangerous waters in this song with lyrics like, "You say you're the shade in my face from my father's share crops?/My people were slaves before yours invented hip-hop." Good thing Say Anything isn't a household name, or else they'd be getting a call from Rev. Jesse Jackson for a healthy debate.
"That is Why" could be compared to "Wow, I Can Get Sexual, Too" because it is the most unusual compared to the rest of the album. Mixing together a '50s lounge tune on ecstasy with a Las Vegas showgirl number, Bemis sings about an ex-lover who lacks "the curves that prove a proper lady." Apparently, she is also "a slender slave with sluttish, sleepy eyes." Look for this tune to be the next single.
Speaking of singles, "Baby Girl, I'm a Blur" throws in some electronic instrumentation and lyrically hits the mark and then some. This song might be one of Bemis' greatest vocal displays to date. When he sings, "You're with me all the time," in the breakdown, you can hear the emotion in his voice teetering back and forth between love and hate.
If the many guest appearances on this album don't hook you then, well ... the hooks will hook you. As for the veteran Say Anything enthusiast, the fact that this album is far different from ...Is a Real Boy might cause a frown or two. The album lacks the boyish charisma that made it easy to fall in love with the band, but after a few listens, you'll be comfortable with this album being No. 2.
Grade: B+
