Two Tongues – Two Tongues

Album Reviews • Thursday January 15th, 2009 • 9:25 am

Two Tongues are a supergroup composed of members of Saves the Day and Say Anything, which means that their self-titled debut record is full of predictably whiny, emo, pop punk songs.

Now, on one level, I could dismiss Two Tongues as childish and artistically inferior to other popular music of the punk persuasion (The Arcade Fire, The Killers, etc.). And I would be right in doing so because, let’s be honest, most whiny, emo, pop punk music is obviously melodramatic and doesn’t exactly bring you new insights into the human condition.

Unless you’re a teenager.

And that’s why such a judgment based solely on traditional considerations of aesthetic excellence would be problematic in this case. Teenagers need music they can listen and relate to, just like the rest of us, and most of them just aren’t ready to experience the beautiful noise droning at the end of Wilco’s “Poor Places” or the poetry of Dylan’s “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding).” Gosh, I know I wasn’t. But I do know that when I listened to Jimmy Eat World or Dashboard Confessional (which, I’ll admit, I still do from time to time — mostly when no one is around, which, I suppose, is the proper way to listen to emo) in my early teens, the songs did resonate with what I was thinking or, perhaps more importantly, feeling at the time.

So I can’t hold lines like “Leave me/ Let me stay asleep cause I don’t care/ I won’t wait for you to believe our love is here” from “Crawl” against Two Tongues. No, they don’t make sense, but — be honest — neither did you when you were 15-years-old.

There are songs on Two Tongues, then, that are “good” in the sense that they explore the ambiguous emotionality inherent in adolescence. The obligatory thundering toms intro and razorblade reference in “Alice,” the predictable crunch-versus-melody anthem approach of “Wowee Zowee,” and the How it Feels to Be Something On era Sunny Day Real Estate guitar on “Try not to Save Me” all honestly take me back to the days when I would turn my CD Walkman up to eleven and put my head down on my desk in study hall. So I have to imagine that maybe youngsters under these circumstances today would enjoy some of Two Tongues.

But, then again, I feel like other parts of the record may be a little annoying for all ages. Two Tongues seem to enjoy going back and forth between attempts to be emotive and profound and attempts to be sunny and playful. “Silly Games,” a melodramatic song about how “she’s so far away,” for instance, is followed directly by “Don’t You Want To Come Back Home,” the band’s attempt to show their listeners that they have, in fact, listened to The Beatles and can write jangly, rollicking 6/8 numbers with inexplicable ’80s guitar solos. Of course, by the logic I have been using to defend Two Tongues from crucifixion simply on the grounds that it is an emo record, I could say that these awkward shifts from unconvincingly serious to unconvincingly playful dispositions are appropriate because they mimic the mood swings of adolescence. But, quite frankly, annoying is sometimes just annoying.

So I won’t lambaste Two Tongues simply because I can’t really relate to it at the stage of life I am currently experiencing. Several of its songs do have their place and are therefore worthwhile. But I doubt that Johnny Sixteen Year Old will find himself later in life having a conversation about how he played Two Tongues over and over again in the car that summer he got his license. After all, it’s no Diary or The Places You Have Come to Fear The Most. There are classics and letdowns for all seasons, I suppose.

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By Jason Hardy

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Comments
Joe DeWitt January 15, 2009

The album cover should definitely make a lot of “Worst Covers of 2009″ lists.

Jason Hardy = Failure January 21, 2009

Congrats on still not knowing the true definition of “emo”

FAIL

Russ January 21, 2009

wow, talk about a biased and one sided review. i disregarded this entire article the second i saw the word “emo” being used to describe the music. When will people learn that “emo” isn’t a genre?

Rob Alan January 21, 2009

Boy… I would have to agree with the comments here – and mention that “punk” is not how I (nor Wikipedia) would describe the music of Arcade Fire or The Killers (post-punk revival, but not punk). Tisk!

Wilco? Are you Serious? January 21, 2009

yeah, i just listened to the “beautiful noise” (bullshit) that is the song Poor Places by Wilco, and i have to ask, how the hell is that a fair comparison? it’s two completely different styles of music. Also, emo is short for “emotional” and i like to think all types of music are emotional to some extent, therefore you can’t just classify one style of music as “emo” without classifying them all as “emo”.

By the way, the “noise” at the end of that song, is exactly what it is…noise…nothing else

CS January 21, 2009

I bet you’re winier than the music is.

Lolwut January 21, 2009

Have you ever listened to Say Anything’s “…is A Real Boy”
If you think the lyrics to those are for 15 year olds, than you’re just retarded

Hegart January 22, 2009

you seem to know something about whining yourself :-)

it’s somewhat sad that you only have the guts to listen to certain music you like only when no one else is around. Though you DO admit it on the “interweb”, I’m happy for you!

You know, if you had taken the time for some research you would know that this album is not about teenage love affairs, but of the bounds of friendship between the two frontmen of this “super group”. Chris Conley says:

Chris: “max had this idea of how this album to be a sort of melodrama of our friendship and how we got to know each other. we’ve actually helped each other grow as human beings ”

Max: “the album sounds like it’s just about a romantic relationship between me and Chris but in reality it’s about our friendship.”

maybe that will be a help to you aprichiating the album ^_^
but i guess you didn’t want to know something to counteract your awsome complaining :-)

love, Hegart

WIlco..is for old people January 22, 2009

Wow..what are you like 55 years old? “Oh dear all that teenage emo music it’s SO silly now that i’m old and whiny” Why even review this if you dislike the entire genre and find NO WAY to indentify with it? That’s like your grandma reviewing the newT-pain album. Please leave review to the professional or atleast people who have an idea of what they are talking about /rant.

Dick January 25, 2009

Out of the MANY things wrong with this review, this has to be the worst:

But I do know that when I listened to Jimmy Eat World or Dashboard Confessional (which, I’ll admit, I still do from time to time — mostly when no one is around, which, I suppose, is the proper way to listen to emo).

What a self righteous idiot. No music should be a guilty pleasure – enjoy what you want to enjoy. Oh no – you still listen to JEW and Dashboard! What will all the hipsters think of you now?!?!

Fuck this review. And this is coming from someone who thinks this is a 6/10 album.

james January 26, 2009

This album sucks. He attempts to be unbiased by admitting his bias – he can’t relate to the simplistic structure and lyrics of the material. Instead of just saying that it sucks he attempts to relate to listeners who find it enjoyable.

Okay, his classifications of various bands and their genre is wrong but his point still remains – that Arcade Fire and The Killers (whom I detest) are superior bands than this release. Even though he does say of the “punk persuasion.” I would argue that the Killers are anything but original. Though he is right to claim they have been persuaded by punk.

Most people don’t know much about original Emo. Some argue it’s a shortened version of emotional while others describe it as obscure punk that originated in the 80s whose leader singers went spastic on stage.

I agree that Say Anything’s Is A real Boy is an amazing release. One that I prefer over this bullocks of a release. Bemis has toned down and has been working with simplicity. While Is a Real Boy shows a plethora of influences this does not.

Plus Colony sounds like a fucking whino. Someone needs to guide his vocals.

I don’t like the songs this interview mentioned. I prefer If I Could Make You Do Things. The transition between Interlude and Tremors was enjoyable. It kind of feels like one big song.

There is little original about this release. It was probably a blast for the two of them to get to make music together. The product isn’t the greatest but hey, sometime the act of creation is funner then the final product. Kind of like babies.

feb 3rd :D January 29, 2009

“Leave me/ Let me stay asleep cause I don’t care/ I won’t wait for you to believe our love is here”
how do those lyrics not make sense? there are a lot more lyrics that make a lot less sense than that lol

“But I doubt that Johnny Sixteen Year Old will find himself later in life having a conversation about how he played Two Tongues over and over again in the car that summer he got his license.”
actually when people bring up their favourite song i mention i’ve already listened to crawl around 600x and this is before its been officially released or anything. btw i’m not obsessed it’s a damn good song lol ok plus im a lil obsessed haha

just wondering but shouldnt this site have someone who actually likes and enjoys the genre reviewing the album? instead of someone who thinks this is “emo” (it actually means emotive hardcore and this is definitely hardcore) but i will give you pop-punk as being accurate at least

“kind of like babies” lol priceless…

Ryan Koehler January 30, 2009

Terrible review.

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