Line #53 Music/SayAnything


1	[[quoteright:213:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/say.jpg]]
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3	->''"Try to overcome your doubt. Believe you are beautiful. Look at yourself through someone else's green eyes. Believe someone out there will find you and kiss your skin until you can feel it blister with the heat. Believe in something bigger than your problems and you will be saved."''
4	-->-- '''Max Bemis'''
5
6	Say Anything is a "vaguely indie punk-pop" stylized Music/{{Emo}} band composed of frontman Max Bemis, drummer Coby Linder, and their [[IAmTheBand revolving group]] [[RevolvingDoorBand of bandmates]]. Like the origin of any unlikely hero, Say Anything was forged from conflict: a feisty young punk band from Hollywood formed during the birth of "hipster" elitism, always out of place. In that day any group of rich kids with a penchant for the Music/VelvetUnderground and enough five o'clock shadow could be paid millions of dollars to be walking billboards for "anti-culture" consumerism. Say Anything shunted pretension, choosing initially to play sincere and nervous rock music and opening locally for the touring bands they closely identified with (The Weakerthans, Music/RiloKiley, The Promise Ring). A few years passed and songwriter Max Bemis continued to feel alienated from the collegiate "scene;" He witnessed young rebels devolve into the counter-culture clichés they sought to avoid in the first place, "reverse psychology" victims of homogenized humanity. By identifying this mass-marketed "hip lie," Bemis found his "arch villain" and, imbued with purpose, Say Anything's music became a new monster - as theatrically pop-based as it was angular and dark.
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8	The band soon released their rock-musical debut ''...Is a Real Boy'' on Doghouse Records, garnered a cult fan base, and then entered a partnership with RCA Music Group. A cathartic live show began to attract thousands of kids a night. Say Anything became critically-lauded. Bemis's openness with his bipolar disorder increased awareness of the disease's affect on musicians and led to him creating a close, respectful relationship with Say Anything fans that has endured their success. Their sophomore double record ''In Defense of the Genre'' affirmed they weren't leaving fans behind despite the "hype machine" they'd been placed in. Say Anything's first two records went on to sell several hundred thousand copies and the band became an underground rock fixture rapidly leaking into the mainstream.
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10	Not to be confused with the [[Film/SayAnything John Cusack]] film of the same name.
11
12	!!Discography
13	* ''Baseball: An Album by Sayanything'' (2001)
14	* ''...Is a Real Boy'' (2004)
15	* ''In Defense of the Genre'' (2007)
16	* ''Say Anything'' (2009)
17	* ''Anarchy, My Dear'' (2012)
18	* ''Hebrews'' (2014)
19	* ''I Don't Think It Is'' (2016)
20	* ''Oliver Appropriate'' (2019)
21	* ''...is Committed'' (2024)
22
23	----
24	!! This band provides examples of:
25	* BerserkButton: Don't talk badly about Sherri.
26	** Or any of his girlfriends, really. Example:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxDFSYu1fRg This song]] is rumored to be a rant against John Nolan of Music/TakingBackSunday due to how he treated Laura Kirsch.
27	* BigApplesauce: Max is from Manhattan.
28	* BreakupSong: A good portion of the songs on ''In Defense of the Genre'' are of this variety.
29	* TheCameo: ''In Defense of the Genre'' is chock full of guest vocals from known names in the emo and pop punk world: [[Music/DashboardConfessional Chris Carrabba]], [[Music/NewFoundGlory Jordan Pundik and Chad Gilbert]], [[Music/MyChemicalRomance Gerard Way]], Music/PeteYorn, [[Music/TakingBackSunday Adam Lazzara and Fred Mascherino]], Matt Skiba, Anthony Green, Anthony Raneri of Bayside, Kenny Vasoli of The Starting Line, [[Music/{{Paramore}} Hayley Williams]], among others.
30	* CharacterFilibuster: Though not going to unbelievable extremes, as many other examples of filibusters do. The protagonist of ''... Is a Real Boy'' goes into a six-minute-long rant about pseudo-intellectual hipster types in the final track, "Admit It!"
31	* CloudCuckooLander: Max Bemis (though he seems to have gotten better) is prone to psychotic breaks. While recording ''...Is a Real Boy'' he thought he was being followed by people with cameras and [[WhatTheHellHero spit in a woman's soup]].
32	* ConceptAlbum: ''...Is a Real Boy'' was originally intended to be a full RockOpera with full spoken word interludes. Sadly, that was scrapped.
33	** Their latest album ''Oliver Appropriate'' is a concept album about a tragic love affair between two men.
34	* CrapsackWorld: A lot of their songs, notably, "Hate Everyone."
35	** Also, the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII portrayal of "Alive with the Glory of Love".
36	--> ''When our city''\
37	''Vast and shitty''\
38	''Falls to the axis''\
39	''They'll search the buildings''\
40	''Collect gold fillings''\
41	''Wallets and rings...''
42	* GenreRoulette: ''I Don't Think It Is'' goes through PostHardcore, ScreamoMusic, mellow IndieRock, and even HipHop.
43	* HarshVocals: Most of ''I Don't Think It Is''.
44	* IAmTheBand: As of 2012, Max is now the only original member. Just for bonus points, he composes most of the music.
45	* IntercourseWithYou: "We Killed It", and to a lesser extent "A Boston Peace" and "Goshua".
46	* LoudnessWar: ''I Don't Think It Is'' has poorly balanced dynamic range.
47	* LyricalDissonance: "That Is Why" is a poppy faux-showtune about what a horrible bitch the singer's ex is.
48	** To a certain extent, "Property". It begins as a pseudo-50's era love song about spousal abuse.
49	* NewSoundAlbum: ''I Don't Think It Is'' is perhaps the most avant-garde album the band has put out.
50	* PrecisionFStrike: The most prominent example of a precision strike is the song "The Futile" off of ''... Is A Real Boy'', which opens with a quiet drum beat, followed by Max exclaiming ''SHIT!''
51	** Also applies to the interjection of ''we're not their fucking dogs!!'' in "Signal the Riflemen."
52	* SelfTitledAlbum: ''Say Anything''.
53	* SillyLoveSongs: DarkerAndEdgier of course, but "Crush'd", which is Max's song to his wife (one of many).
54	** Most notably for ''In Defense...'' is "Shiksa (Girlfriend)".
55	* SurrealMusicVideo: "Give a Damn" is the band being killed in cartoonishly graphic fashion by a disgruntled fan.
56	* TakeThat: "Mara and Me": "There are babies with guns beheading their friends in shopping malls around the world / but somehow the Music/KingsOfLeon still find the time to write songs about girls / I don't suck much less..."
57	** "Give a Damn"'s music video is a swipe at fans who complain loudly about bands changing their sound.
58	** "Admit It" is a wonderfully brutal evisceration of {{Hipster}}s.
59	** "Hate Everyone" lives up to its name, attacking, among other things, [[JustForFun/OneOfUs Actors Who Seem Genuine]], [[Music/TheKillers Brandon Flowers]] ("The Singer with the Denim Skin"), The Menninger Clinic ("That Hospital in Texas") and Music/KanyeWest ("The Rapper in the Lexus").
60	* UncommonTime: The band goes odd for a few measures in "I Will Never Write an Obligatory Song About Being on the Road and Missing Someone." After the first time Max sings "and I've got you back" in a 4/4 phrase ending with a measure of 2/4, the band lurches into 6/4; then 9/4 the second time and 14/4 the third.
61	** "The Futile" opens with a few measures of 7/4.
62	* WeUsedToBeFriends: "The Bret Easton Ellis School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" is about a former punk friend of Max's turned trendy yuppie.
63	* {{Yandere}}: Oh dear God, "I Love You More Than I Hate My Period"
64	--> ''His song is stuck in my head''
65	--> ''His song is stuck in my head''
66	--> ''I will chain him tight up to my bed''
67	--> ''So I always will remember him''
68	** "It's a Process"
69	--> ''Do you know I have the right to own a gun?!''
70	----

Context Music / SayAnything