Two Tongues
Two Tongues


3.0
good

Review

by Athom EMERITUS
January 27th, 2009 | 36 replies


Release Date: 2009 | Tracklist

Review Summary: The good, the bad, and the uninspired.

If there is one thing that I've learned through my history of obsessing over certain bands like Gollum and his ring it is that expectations are a bitch. As hard as I try not to get sucked in to the internet hype machine sometimes its impossible. Especially when it comes to Max Bemis. As the main creative force behind Say Anything his most recent albums, 2004's ...Is a Real Boy and 2007's In Defense of the Genre, are the pinnacle of the last decade of pop punk. How excited was I when news broke that he would be working with Save The Day's Chris Conley and in a new project entitled Two Tongues? Even though Conley's work in Saves the Day has been progressively lagging since the early part of this century its hard to deny how good he was on the near flawless Stay What You Are and Through Being Cool. Unfortunately Two Tongues follows the same path as Save the Day's career, a strong first half that worsens as it goes along.

Two Tongues' eponymous debut starts out strong with "Crawl". "Crawl" was the first track to be released on their myspace a few months ago and with good reason. The soft-loud dynamics of the verse and booming chorus make it sound like it would fit perfectly on Say Anything's In Defense of the Genre. Sadly the next track, "I Could Make You Do Things", is a lazy Saves the Day-esque duet that is made tedious by Bemis' and Conley's vocal interplay. Going back and forth from Max's bark to Chris' nasally timbre is just too grating of a dynamic. By this point in Two Tongues you are pretty much given the main template for the rest of the album and its greatest flaw. There is nothing that sonically differentiates Two Tongues from Bemis' and Conley's other works. As the album continues there are still a couple more worthwhile tracks before it plunges into the abyss. "Dead Lizard" draws from the guitar driven stylings of Saves the Day's Sound the Alarm to make the strongest song on the album. It is also the first track to feature Conley in a main vocal role. "Wowee Zowee" might just be the catchiest song that Conley has penned since 2000's Stay What You Are. Its rumbling bass, catchy power chords, and sing-a-long chants of "Hey! Hey! Cut it out! What you gonna do about it/ I don't wanna go home unless I'm not alone/ Well you shut me out!/ I won't let you go" are sure to be stuck in your head for weeks.

Here's where Two Tongues run out of ideas. Its easier to get blood from a stone than to find a shred of enthusiasm or creativity on the latter parts of the album. "Come On" is a worthless track. Clocking in at a minute and forty four seconds it is simply nothing more than repetitious chorus that espouses the song's title about 20 more times than necessary. By this point all the energy that was built and barely maintained through "Wowee Zowee" is gone. "Alice" is Two Tongues attempt at a darker track but instead it reeks of unenthusiastic vocals and clumsy lyrics. If Conley and Bemis injected just a little bit of passion in their performances "Alice" could have been at least a decent track, but like the last eight tracks (with the exception of "Wowee Zowee") it is easily forgettable. "Back Against the Wall" is easily the worst song on the album. It greets you with some ugly synth sounds that sound like they were culled off of some crappy Sega Genesis game and the main guitar riff is ridiculously dated. If that wasn't bad enough the vocal trade offs during the verse are so forced that its just embarrassing.

If Two Tongues was released as an EP then it probably would have lived up to the mass of hype surrounding it, but as an album it is driven down by too much filler and a lack of energy. Its a shame really, because it had the potential to be something great. If Max Bemis and Chris Conley decide to team up again in the future lets just hope they step out side their comfort zone for more than 15 minutes.


Album is streaming at http://www.myspace.com/twotonguesrock



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user ratings (139)
3.2
good

Comments:Add a Comment 
HighandDriving
January 27th 2009


3288 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Agreed, too much shitty filler but some of the songs are good.This Message Edited On 01.27.09

sohcampco
January 28th 2009


5 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Agree with most of your review, too much filler. If this was released as an EP with songs such as "Crawl", "Wowee Zowee" and such, it would have been definitely great.

Kiran
Emeritus
January 28th 2009


6134 Comments


so disappointed

CxLTxN
January 28th 2009


107 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Crawl, Dead Lizard & Tremors are the highlights for me. The first half is definitely stronger than the second. Try Not to Save Me kinda reminds me of Brand New for some reason. I also don't think Come On is as bad as you made it seem, it's one of the better tracks imo. Review was good, I pretty much agree with everything you said.

DaveyBoy
Emeritus
January 28th 2009


22503 Comments


^^^ Beat me to it by a matter of minutes.
Also, at one stage you put down Saves The Day's latest album, then you follow that up with the best song on here is similar to those on said album.

Athom
Emeritus
January 28th 2009


17244 Comments


no saves the day's latest album is Under the Boards. Sound the Alarm had some good stuff on it it just wasn't consistent. and as far as baseball goes, i'll acknowledge it when bemis does.This Message Edited On 01.27.09

DaveyBoy
Emeritus
January 28th 2009


22503 Comments


Oh yeah, I always confuse those 2 album names in their new supposed trilogy. I actually prefer 'Under The Boards' myself. It was a large departure for them and obviously annoyed some longtime fans, but I thought they were going nowhere with the more truer pop-punk sound of their earlier albums anyway.

Athom
Emeritus
January 28th 2009


17244 Comments


That better?

Against Miik!
February 3rd 2009


215 Comments


Is it February 3rd already? Wow, I guess I will have to pick this up. I've been pretty excited about it for a while actually, as the myspace tracks were good and Say Anything and (good) Saves The Day are two of my favorite bands.

It's a shame to hear how average it is though.This Message Edited On 02.03.09

JumpTheF**kUp
February 3rd 2009


2723 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I am listening to this now and I will like it regardless of whether it is good or not because I mean, Max Bemis, come on.

Athom
Emeritus
February 3rd 2009


17244 Comments


Here's hoping this was just a way to cleanse his palate of mediocre ideas before starting work on the next say anything cd.

SpinLightTwo
February 3rd 2009


1067 Comments


...This Message Edited On 02.03.09

Athom
Emeritus
February 3rd 2009


17244 Comments


I wish there were still FYE's where I live.This Message Edited On 02.03.09

CoreyG64102
February 8th 2009


1 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

I think with all the people slamming this album calling it disapointing, I think if you look at it with how it is supposed too, you may just appreciate more than you are. Bemis and Conley formed the Two Tongues to really just jam and put out music that they had wrote together. In interviews Bemis and Conley had stated, the only reason why we had made a cd of it was to appease to Save the Day and Say Anything fans, but for the most part they weren't looking to create the greatest cd of the year. They could have honestly of cared less. I love this CD, not for the sole reason that I love Bemis and Conley, but for the reason that its a CD where two friends came together and created music just for the hell of it. But I must say, people that are outside the Say Anything and Save the Day crowd, probably should skip this one, if your not a fan of them, you will not be a fan of Two Tongues.



Peace!

JumpTheF**kUp
February 8th 2009


2723 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

This isn't even that bad, most enjoyable release I've listened to this year.

lunchforthesky
February 8th 2009


1039 Comments

Album Rating: 1.5

I like some stuff that both guys have done but this is laughably bad. I can see why they wanted to make it but they probably should have realised early in the writing stage that they just do not have a good chemistry together. For one thing their vocals are completely unsuited to sitting alongside one another. Perhaps a brief cameo on IDOTG was fine but Chris is too high/nasal and Max too low and tuneless. It sounds like a bad joke.

Athom
Emeritus
February 8th 2009


17244 Comments


lunchforthesky is pretty much right about the vocals, thats why the best songs on the album have a primary singer and then the other kicks in for a chorus or something in a backing position. When both Max and Chris trade off main vocal duties it sounds awkward.

JumpTheF**kUp
February 9th 2009


2723 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I really like this, 'Crawl' is so good.

Equium
February 13th 2009


128 Comments


"Crawl" is great until Conley comes in; his voice is so grating these days.This Message Edited On 02.19.09

BroRape
February 18th 2009


803 Comments


i want this regardless of whether it's good or not.



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