The two main songwriters involved in this project project a gross series of overreactions on this website. But when looked at through a calm sense of restraint and reality, and with the opinion that Say Anything is at least passable and Saves the Day still matter (for the most part), Two Tongues' self-titled debut is a very decent album.
The sound both Max Bemis and Chris Conley have come up with here leans heavily towards the more recent work created by the latter. It's a 35-minute collection of expressive, moderately up-tempo nuevo emo-rock done by some of the few dudes who still matter doing it, with enough saccharine sincerity and quirky guitar riffs to go for miles. The amble rhythm section's supplied by David Soloway (now ex-Saves the Day, bass) and Coby Linder (Say Anything, drums).
The dynamics on Two Tongues aren't as hard-hitting as the band probably imagined they were playing them in the studio, but they make up a fine core for things, notably on the first pair of cuts, "Crawl" and "If I Could Make You Do Things." "Dead Lizard," largely anchored by Conley, bears questionable '90s rock vibes, but is saved by an uptick in tempo and energy for the chorus. It still sort of feels like something is missing, but it's an interesting experiment for the band, as is covering Ween's "Even If You Don't" for a closer.
Another surprise comes in the "Interlude," as it's sung completely by Bemis' fiancée, Sherri Dupree of Eisley. Naturally, it sort of sounds like Eisley, with a murmured guitar melody bubbling beneath Dupree.
The band seem to sound best when they drift a little bit, sort of like on the haunting parts of Sound the Alarm. It comes in moments on songs like "Tremors" and "Don't You Want to Come Home."
If ...Is A Real Boy really did collide with Through Being Cool (as the band promise on their MySpace page), it would be a rather brilliant album. Two Tongues hardly delivers on that would-be opus, but it's still an expectedly pleasant slab of tunes from some prolific and able songwriters.
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Crawl
If I Could Make You Do Things
Wowee Zowee