Recent Reviews

July 2024

June 2024

May 2024

April 2024

March 2024

February 2024

[ More Music Reviews ]


Say Anything: Hebrews
Say Anything Hebrews Album Review

Say Anything: Hebrews

Orchestral Alternative/Punk Rock
5.0/5.0

Website Facebook Twitter YouTube
Equal Vision Records
Words: Patrick Heinbaugh
Added: 22.06.2014

Say Anything is a band that for years has been chronicling the life and times of singer/songwriter Max Bemis’s life. Through numerous stints in mental hospitals, drug fueled mental breakdowns, and a string of band member’s coming and going; it’s safe to say there’s a lot of content to still cover in his music. Hebrews more than any previous album feels like Max’s album more than Say Anything’s. You feel Bemis’s pain and personal issues stronger than you feel a full band coming together to write the album, which I believe is what makes the record so spectacular.

Say Anything - Hebrews Band Photo

Say Anything: matching socks.

What adds to this close personal sentimentality is the bold and almost baffling decision to not use any guitars on the record and instead replace them with a full string orchestra. When I first heard this was the direction of the album I almost wrote it off entirely, after all, Say Anything has always been defined by fast adaptable guitar playing which ripped through each song and complimented Bemis’s angry bitter voice.

So how is it possible for them to survive without the iconic riffs that mixed so brilliantly with the complexity of the band’s lyrics? Well simply put, with some of Bemis’s most personal lyrics and a vocal performance that can only be described as “lung crushing”. While I like the band’s last offering, Anarchy My Dear more than most, even I can admit the vocals seemed a bit forced except for a few excellent exceptions. This isn’t even close to the case this time around, from Bemis’s loud pathetic delivery of I’m wasted away! in the opening track John Mcclane to the sad somber self ridiculing nature of the penultimate track “Lost My Touch”; Max has never felt more in tune with his own music. This mixed with catchy riffs played raucously by a full orchestra as well as the band’s signature drumming and synth riffs makes for the most instantly memorable Say Anything tracks ever.

But hey, what’s a Say Anything album without incredibly personal and relatable lyrics right? Well believe me when I say Hebrews has you covered and then some. The album combines similar themes that you can expect from Say Anything as well as new themes such as Bemis’s fallout with critical fans, his newfound parenthood as well as an even increased emphasis on his Jewish up-bring. The title tracks as well as the first single Six Six Six heavily speak of Bemis’s struggles with spirituality and self-hatred as they have developed and influenced him over the years.

And then there’s songs like Call me Kubrick and My Greatest Fear is Splendid which explore Bemis’s past with depression and drug dependencies as well as a great fear of relapsing and losing everything he’s gained in the past years. Probably the strongest and most bitter theme is Bemis’s fallout with fans critical of his previous album and lack of support to his healthier and happier persona. Possibly the strongest track on the album is Judas Decapitation which has Bemis take the place of his critics and ridicules his life and his past recordings with a bitter delivery of “Be 19 with a joint in hand, never change the band, never ever be a dot dot dot real man”. This same theme is explored in the bitter piano driven narrative of Lost My Touch in which he somberly expresses fear and regret that he may have lost his musical abilities and pain that has fueled his previous recordings. The album is not all doom and gloom however as the tracks A Look and The Shape of Love to Come express his happiness and joy with his wife Sherri DuPree Bemis and newly born daughter Lucy who have made him a stronger and better man.

While it does feel like Max Bemis’s album he’s certainly not alone on this one, in fact he’s brought his own dream team of independent artists to join him on this musical adventure and add to the brilliant music he has composed. This long list of artists includes Matt Pryor of the Get Up Kids, Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra, Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die, Brian Sella of the Front Bottoms, Aaron Weiss of mewithoutYou, Jeremy Bolm of Touché Amore, and Tom DeLonge of blink-182. Of course wife Sherri and her numerous bandmates/siblings from Eisley are on deck as well as best friend Chris Conely from Saves the Day. All these artists may seem like a strange choice as they encapsulate so many different genres, but so many bring an added element to the music that almost makes the record seem genre-less. If I had to give it a title my best guess would be orchestral punk and it sounds about as weird as it will be upon first listen but man is it perfect.

In the end, Hebrews is an album that shouldn’t work, it just shouldn’t. While Say Anything is possiblely my favorite band, I was not expecting Hebrews to work, but now it may be my favorite album by them. This album is personal, memorable and catchy, beautifully crafted, and just downright perfect. It’s a masterpiece that needed so many years of Max Bemis’s life to finally come to life, but now that it has it’s a modern masterpiece.


Say Anything - Hebrews





CraigHartranft.net - New fiction, crime fiction by Craig Hartranft

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

In Short

Say Anything's Hebrews is personal, memorable and catchy, beautifully crafted, and just downright perfect.

Find A Review

Alphabetical Index

a b c d e f g h i j
k l m n o p q r s t
u v w x y z #
New & Notable
Read the Atlantic: Another World Album Review

We have to dig deep, three decades, to find the origins of Atlantic, a project of songwriter, musician, and producer Simon Harrison (then Stranger, Wisht). Initially thought to be a one-off recording, Harrison ... [ Read More ]