9. Say Anything - ... Is A Real Boy/...Was a Real Boy

"And the record begins with a song of rebellion," Max Bemis says before the duel guitars go into the heavy rock riff of "Belt." Max Bemis is the mastermind behind Say Anything, a prodigy; he single handedly put out an online CD playing every instrument at the age of 17. A couple years later he was signed to a record deal and gives birth to …Is A Real Boy, once again playing all the instruments. On top of his clear talent musically the lyrics on this disc are brilliant. What possibly makes all this most impressive is Max Bemis is bipolar.

The mainstream label debut of Say Anything is, in most respects, a real gem of deliciously sinful postmodern originality. This band not known to most people is suburban to the very core, almost comparable to the best qualities of The Bloodhound Gang with just a tinge of the self-honesty of Bright Eyes. A merging of those two bands would likely yield offspring comparable to ...Is a Real Boy (and it's sister disc, the incredibly dark ...Was a Real Boy). Musically speaking the disc reflects painstakingly crafted pop production with scintillating rhythms and hooks that are accentuated to the point of dark irony by front man Max Bemis's devilishly engaging lyrical fits. Say Anything isn’t your run of the mill Hollister Era punk-pop outfit; they go much deeper than that. Bemis pens tales about the new ways to find sexual experiences online in “Wow I Can Get Sexual Too,” he tells about how his grandparents felt during the holocaust in “Alive With the Glory of Love,” and even speaks about the procrastination that comes around due to drug use and TV in "Red Cat/Yellow Cat". Bemis is a very eccentric front man not only singing but also going on tangents, ranting his way through songs using his wide array of vocab. In “Admit It,” he attacks the “emo” kids for their elitist stance, hurling insults like “Proto-typical non-conformist. You are a vacuous soldier of the thrift store Gestapo. You adhere to a set of standards and tastes that appear to be determined by an unseen panel of hipster judges, giving your thumbs up and thumbs down to incoming and outgoing trends and styles of music and art.” Say Anything’s double disc is an experience. It’s the look at the world through the mind of an angry bipolar genius, the results are 20 timeless songs whose message will be just as pertinent today as they will be in 20 years.