Theo Salem-Mackall, Author at SPIN

Max Bemis, the acid-witted frontman and only constant member of pop-punk veterans Say Anything, is well-known for pushing his music into audacious new directions. There were club detours on 2007's In Defense of the Genre, forays into rich power-pop on 2009's Say Anything, and, of course, 60 minutes of sweaty, self-aware catharsis on their acclaimed 2004 debut, …Is a Real Boy. For this year's Hebrews, Bemis makes another sharp deviation, opting out of guitar and bass entirely in exchange for a fully equipped string orchestra. This latest musical shift lends gravity to the lyrical transition Bemis has made over time, from depicting the anxieties of a callow, bipolar youth to those of a 30-year old man with a wife and kids. Those very grown-up neuroses permeate the video for Hebrews' lead single, "Six Six Six."In the just-released clip, our self-described "strung-out, overweight, Jewish" hero drops little Lucy Jean Bemis off at her grandma's, allowing him to go on a quick (and bizarrely self-destructive) stroll through the woods. Without revealing too much, Bemis ends up getting a brick to the face from a menacing, yet oddly familiar, stranger. Watch the video for "Six Six Six" above and pick up Hebrews now through Equal Vision Records.

Theo Salem-Mackall

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