Written this before.

I think I wrote this before, but apparently according to the hit counter I do have some visitors that are not me, so please leave a comment on this post if you wouldn't mind helping me out with ideas for content or layout, writing style... or anything that would make people more likely to read this blog. I know blogs are a dime a dozen but this is the closest thing I can get to music journalism. I majored in journalism, and to be honest, it just doesn't pay that well anyway. So I want to do it here. Thanks for the input.

--Bart Gentile

Two Tongues - Self Titled

Well this is the first release of a side-project of both Chris Conley of Saves the Day and Max Bemis of Say Anything. I'm sorry if I'm about to offend anyone but I can't write like I used to, so I will feel at liberty to lace my own personal views into my overly analytical review style. So, with that said, Chris Conley sounds like a girl. There I said it. it isn't necessarily a bad thing but I actually asked when my friend first played this "who's the girl singing?" I was never a huge Saves the Day fan and I'll admit that I didn't really ever listen to them strictly because of the t-shirts I couldn't avoid growing up in New Jersey. Either way, Conley does add a lot to this album and its feel that sounds like Bemis and Conley are just trading off on the leads.
So we start off with "Crawl", which is a very strong opener... Hard and fast followed by slow and lamenting, bouncing back and forth until the chorus which is a simple yet still drives pretty hard. Following up we have "If I Could Make You Do Things", a catchy song with lyrics that dominate of the track outpowering the instruments.
This album is very reminiscent of early 2000s Emo and as much as there is a negative connotation attached to that genre classification I'm still loving it... yes a guilty pleasure nearly 7 years later.
"Dead Lizard" is a another pretty fast song that essentially ends with Max chanting out the words and ending with a scream followed up by a Conley chorus.
The next track "Interlude" is somewhat intriguing because it looks much like the two are either into each other or they want to be friends. Disregarding the strange lyrics about two people meeting at a bar and going home to watch sci-fi films... Sherri Dupree of Eisley has an incredible voice even though it isn't much like singing so much as speaking, it is still quite whimsical.
The heart of the album starts with "Tremors" a somewhat laid back song, but a good rest from teh fast paced prior tracks. "Silly Game" follows up as one of my personal favorites on the track listing. Sticking with the same dynamic Max screams and moans as Chris cries and sings the replies.
"Don't You Want to Come Home" has a pretty slow backup, and for some reason sounds like a Beatles song to me... I'm not comparing them to the Beatles, I'm just saying that it is an unexpected sound to come from these two.
"Wowee Zowee" another favorite for me, mostly because of a very strong chorus. It is a get up and go song, slow start up followed by chanting and Chris Conley's finer moments on the album. "Come On" follows a similar path with much of the song just repeating the sound title and some other words.. not that impressive, but it is still pretty fun. "Alice" is a pretty dark song, singing about keeping someone "chained to me." It isn't bad, but it isn't anything really special either.
"Try Not to Save Me" is a little different as it draws you in slowly and then will probably have you singing along a little bit by the end of it.
"Back Against the Wall" has a bit of disco, a little bit of 80s synth pop and funk infused into a nice somewhat experimental song for the group, and they follow this one up with a cover of Ween's "Even If You Don't". I find it to be a pretty humorous song that actually reminds me of college for some reason.
The last two tracks if you bought the album from iTunes and got the "exclusive" or downloaded the DRM free copies (thanks Apple) you can hear Max doing the Saves the Day song "Third Engine" which I actually enjoyed thoroughly. While Conley's rendition of "Every Man Has a Molly" is somewhat painful to listen to, but it grows on you and is actually a bit of fun.

This album is pop-filled-emo at its finest. It is catchy as hell, and fun to think along to if you can't sing because you are in public, but I know you want to. If you are looking for a good time, pick it up, see how it grabs you, or go download a song or two and see what you like or don't like about it. I personally enjoyed it, but I have been reprimanded for taste before. Enjoy.

THERES NEVER ENOUGH TIME!!!

Or so it feels,
I think that I have to give this one another go... maybe I won't always review new albums. I haven't been able to go to shows as much since my show buddy left and went down to Charlotte. I have been to a few since he left, but there haven't really been any that I was into that much. Against Me! was a pretty awesome show over at Webster Hall, but that is about it. There is a great lineup for this summer, but I don't know how the cash situation is going to pan out. Well if you are reading I guess that you are doing me some sort of favor so I'll have to post something. I guess I'll start with the Two Tongues project. See you in a bit.