MUSIC Say Anything branches out

The band is touring with Saves the Day.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
In case you blinked or just didn't pay attention, the emo zeitgeist, it turns out, is yielding much more than heart-shaped anthems filled with mascara-running whining.
Sure, the aforementioned description is apropos of where the genre was a few years ago, but as more of the pigeonholed bands come of age we're starting to see some interesting and varying results. My Chemical Romance is attempting to become a new millennium version of Queen, and Fall Out Boy is attempting to cross over into the urban dance game.
Then there's up-and-coming Los Angeles band Say Anything, which emerged in 2004 with its debut, "Say Anything ... is a Real Boy." It may have taken a few years of incessant touring but the sextet has finally become a player on the club scene. The outfit is currently on a co-headlining tour with Saves the Day. The bill comes through Cleveland for a Sunday show at the House of Blues.
While band visionary Max Bemis is happy the outfit has finally broken through to the pop-punk crowd, he admits he's tired of playing the same songs for the past three years.
"Yeah, the subject matter isn't so much dated as much as the delivery and the musicianship," said Bemis, calling from a tour stop in Kansas City. "I feel like if we had recorded this album right now, I could have sang it better and played it better but at the same time, that's why it's our first record. That's why there is always somewhere else to go. If you're too afraid of being able to outdo yourself later, then you'll never do anything. That's something I've learned over time."
Ready for second album
Outdoing themselves indeed is what the members of Say Anything plan on doing with their sophomore effort, which Bemis said is written and ready to go. After finishing up this current tour, the band will catch its breath and then head straight to the studio to record the tentatively titled "In Defense of the Genre."
If the conspicuous title comes across as a not-so-subtle attempt to silence the emo critics, then you're paying attention. And just like Say Anything's aforementioned brothers in arms who are pushing themselves stylistically, Bemis said his band is feeling the pressure to take their music into a new and adventurous direction.
"Yeah, totally, but I don't think it's just the bands in my scene so much as everything in music and art constantly evolving," Bemis said. "It's like you need to be in touch with what is going on even if you don't love everything you hear, because you do have to compete. It doesn't mean that you have to go out of your way to sound like something that is not natural to you but I think it's always important to strive to do something interesting even if it's not totally new."
Concept album
Bemis describes "In Defense of the Genre," which the band hopes to have out later this year or early 2008, as being in many ways a traditional rock album with a concept and story that is told in the order of the songs. Already the outfit is performing one of the new tracks live. "People Like You Are Why People Like Me Exist" is an upbeat, punk romper, and is easily one of the more accessible tracks.
Still, Bemis stresses that Say Anything is still early in its musical journey to identify itself.
"We're not Radiohead," said Bemis. "We may do it in the future but we haven't made our 'Kid A.' This is our 'OK Computer' or 'The Bends.' Not that we're as good as them but just like what each record meant for Radiohead's career, this is still a traditional record but we're pushing it a little bit."
He added, "There are still choruses and verses and rock-out parts and blazing solos that sound like certain other bands but at the same time, I think we have a passion for it and an originality that brings it to the next level. I'd like to think that this is some next-level (expletive)."