Say Anything

Say Anything emerged in 2004 as the pop-punk project fronted by Max Bemis, gaining widespread attention through the release of the much-praised second album ...Is a Real Boy and its breakout track "Alive with the Glory of Love." The outfit refined its raw fusion of emo, punk, pop, and alternative rock across top-charting efforts such as the self-titled release from 2009 and Hebrews in 2014, only to wind down activities in 2019 upon issuing its eighth and concluding LP, Oliver Appropriate. The group reconvened in 2023 to play several concerts and put out two new tracks, "Psyche" and "Are You (In) There?"

The act first assembled in 2000 while Bemis and his fellow members remained high-school students in Los Angeles, California. Though personnel shifted over time, Bemis has stayed central, crafting narratives of insecurity and frustration alongside longtime drummer Coby Linder. The band launched its recorded output with a pair of self-released, self-produced EPs—Junior Varsity! and Menorah/Majora, the second of which appeared online—plus the full-length Baseball in 2003. Those early works leaned into the emo, rock, and pop-punk style popularized by blink-182 and Saves the Day.

Bemis soon grew weary of that sound and overhauled the group’s approach for ...Is a Real Boy, Say Anything’s inaugural Doghouse Records outing in 2004. Described by its creator as a punk-rock musical, the set was produced by Tim O'Heir (Dinosaur Jr., the All-American Rejects) and Stephen Trask (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), with Bemis handling nearly every instrument himself.

Bemis’ bipolar disorder grew increasingly difficult to manage, complicating both the album’s sessions and the period that followed. Overcome by severe stress, the vocalist endured a nervous breakdown that forced the cancellation of two 2005 tours, one of which had been slated to support Saves the Day. The band nevertheless inked a deal with J Records that year and reissued ...Is a Real Boy in February 2006 as a two-disc package that added a bonus EP of demos, re-recordings, and material from an unreleased AIDS-benefit project. A nationwide headline tour ensued, and "Alive with the Glory of Love" achieved modest radio and MTV exposure.

The momentum carried into 2007, culminating in a successful second attempt at touring with Saves the Day and the October release of the two-disc concept album In Defense of the Genre.

Early in 2008 Bemis disclosed plans for a new record; the self-titled result appeared late the following year, several months after he and Chris Conley of Saves the Day issued an album under their side project Two Tongues. Bemis resumed work with Say Anything in 2012, delivering the band’s fifth LP, the sharp and confrontational Anarchy, My Dear. On 2014’s Hebrews the group abandoned driving guitars in favor of sweeping string arrangements while Bemis delivered an unflinching self-examination.

Following a period of quiet, Say Anything surprised listeners with I Don't Think It Is in February 2016, which reached number 35 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart. In August 2018 Bemis shared a candid nine-page letter announcing that the band’s next album would be its final one. Positioned as a sequel to ...Is a Real Boy, Oliver Appropriate arrived in January 2019, after which Bemis embarked on a solo tour.

In 2023 Say Anything reunited for sets at Chicago’s Riot Fest and the When We Were Young Festival in Las Vegas. The band also issued the standalone singles—the pop-punk outburst "Psyche" and the forceful "Are You (In) There?"—and supervised the reissue of its long-unavailable debut, Baseball.