Album Review: Two Tongues - 'Two Tongues'

18 March 2009 | 2:05 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

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When the creative minds behind Saves The Day and Say Anything decide to combine their collective powers you know the results are going to be good, and Two Tongues most definitely delivers. Chris Conley (Saves The Day) and Max Bemis (Say Anything) – along with Coby Linder and Dave Soloway (although he recently quit Saves The Day so who knows what his status is) – have pooled their collective understanding of all things pop and merged them with the strongest elements of their regular bands/day jobs to create one of the most focused rock records of 2009.  


Lead track “Crawl” wastes little time in grabbing the listener’s attention with its soaring melodies and catchy riffs, in fact, I’d go as far as saying it’s one of the strongest opening numbers committed to tape in the last twelve months. Taking a more restrained route is “If I Could Make You Do Things”, a song that makes the most of two drastically different (yet somehow compatible) sets of vocals chords, all of which is in stark contrast to the nineties-rock (see Smashing Pumpkins) inspired “Dead Lizard”.


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After a brief interlude - complete with a guest appearance from Sherri DuPree of Eisley fame – we are given “Tremors”, which is hands down my favourite track from this self-titled affair. Featuring Chris and Max’s vocal interplay at its finest, this two and a half minute pop-rock gem is everything you could want from the genre. “Silly Game” is another hit-single in waiting, while the quirky pop of “Don’t You Want To Come Home” proves that Two Tongues are a multidimensional rock n roll beast, complete with wailing guitar solo! 


“Wowee Zowee” is another nod to the alternative rock explosion that the world experienced over a decade ago (which is a good thing the last time I checked), much the same as “Come On” heavily references Mr Conley’s own Saves The Day. Although it starts slowly, “Alice” eventually delivers the same powerful choruses that we know these men are capable of, which makes the meandering “Try Not To Save Me” all the more effective, leaving the jam-band styled “Back Against The Wall” and “Even If You Don’t” (a cover of the Ween classic) to see this fantastic record out.

Many notable musicians have tried the super-group thing, and more often than not they fail… horribly. Lucky for us that Two Tongues is more than a sum of its parts and has successfully given us – the grateful record-buying public – one of the most enjoyable pop/rock albums of 2009.

  1. Crawl
  2. If I Could Make You Do Things
  3. Dead Lizard
  4. Interlude
  5. Tremors
  6. Silly Game
  7. Don’t You Want To Come Home
  8. Wowee Zowee
  9. Come On
  10. Alice
  11. Try Not To Save Me
  12. Back Against The Wall
  13. Even If You Don’t