March 29, 2024

By JAKE ROBINSON

After listening to the majority of music that has been released during this era of the DJ, it’s always refreshing to hear music led by powerful guitars and witty lyrics.
Say Anything’s Anarchy, My Dear, which was released on March 13, brings you through a transition of typical Say Anything songs – although typical isn’t always a bad thing. The album touches on every aspect of the band that fans love including meaningful lyrics, jaunty melodies and superb musicianship.
Burn A Miracle, which is the first single off the album, goes into a chorus which features a distorted vocal effect on Max Bemis’s voice. As he sings “burn a miracle,” he slurs the line to appear as if he’s saying “burn America.”
Bemis shows great maturity with the album and has the ability to connect to fans with his usual comical but outspoken lyrics.
Admit It Again is a great sequel to their song Admit It!!! which appeared on their album …Is a Real Boy. The continuation keeps its original fast-pace punk vibe and angst-ridden lyrics which make it easy for fans to connect because of the simplicity of the song’s message – stay true to yourself.
Peace Out is a unique song compared to today’s usual style of music. The guitar work and vocal melody mimic the style of medieval music. Although the song goes into a cliché Say Anything chorus, it remains fresh with an unorthodox, yet impressive, guitar solo entering the second verse. As the song concludes with the choppy playing style of a piano it is evident that it is one of the stronger tracks off the album.
The impressive thing about Say Anything is their ability to effectively genre hop from song to song. After Peace Out they jump into Overbiter which is one of the more mainstream songs that the album features. The pulsing piano and drum beat mimics a tasteful rendition of many current top 40 songs.
The album’s title track, Anarchy, My Dear, is a beautiful ballad, although, unlike most love songs, this is written to the idea of anarchy, not a person.
The song begins with a snare roll replicating as if the band was marching off to war. Bemis sings in a husky-raspy tone as an acoustic guitar frequently trades off from playing chords to riffs. The track is put together with a lot of effort and hidden instrumental gems – the chorus features a harmonica that is mixed well behind the other instruments but is effective in sparking a mourning emotion to the song. It eventually reaches a tasteful turn-around leading into a spectacular guitar solo.
The band concludes the album with The Stephen Hawking which wraps up the album appropriately. The song flows from a slow intro into a raw-punk middle section before slowing down again and concluding with a melodic outro. The movement of the song demonstrates the band’s great ability as composers as members combined what could be three different songs into one.
Every Say Anything album has its own unique identity – the identity of this one is their growth in musicianship as well as maintaining their ability to strike a variety of emotions with listeners.