Post by sylvia!! on Apr 6, 2023 8:42:29 GMT
Maxim Adam Bemis (born April 6th, 1984
Associated Acts: Say Anything (2000 - 2018, 2022 - Present), Two Tongues (2008 - Present), Perma (2009 - Present), Max Bemis & the Painful Splits (2010 - Present)
Vocal Range: B1 - B5
Vocal Type: And All of These Angry Singers In the World, I Am the Angriest Baritone!
{Vocal Summary}If there was ever a person deserving of the title of infamous it would be Max Bemis. Not only because he penned what is now regarded as one of the most important, innovative and well-written records of the 2000s that not only came through with an incredible sense of character and a rare sense of self-awareness in a genre dominated by people who almost exclusively wrote about women that left them and the town they hate but also because he's a complete rarity: a baritone doing pop-punk.
Truth be told, a lot of Say Anything's music wouldn't work if it weren't for this man's gritty and venemous mid-range sounding as nasty and pissed off as it is. On earlier Say Anything records, Max's weighty belts, screams and various noises of anger as well as his almost talk-sung lows added a lot of personality to his singing - one of self-aware self-loathing backed up with witty lines and very upfront metaphors that put Max's full life and self on display: almost like a direct musical manifestation of the feeling of being frustrated and pissed off. That was with the first few records at least.
After Say Anything's self titled record (where he sounds very weirdly androgynous), Max's voice decided to change in the opposite direction to how many singers' voices change when they smoke. Instead of losing his ability to sing high notes, he lost his ability to have tone below G♯2 and started abusing his high range more, making his very gritty D5s sound a lot easier than they should have and being able to talk-sing in a range that he'd normally sound like he was putting all his effort into belting at. This combination of weird placing and odd changes in sound made a lot more of his music sound like a goofy attempt at bitterness rather than acerbic honesty to the point where he'd almost become a parody of himself. Thankfully though, this era seems to be over with Max deciding to let out a lot more vocal flexibility on his... alt r&b side project?
Though he may not be the most technically gifted singer of all time, Max's voice is idiosyncratic as all hell and you're certainly not going to forget it or not be able to recognise it once you hear it... for better or for worse.
Truth be told, a lot of Say Anything's music wouldn't work if it weren't for this man's gritty and venemous mid-range sounding as nasty and pissed off as it is. On earlier Say Anything records, Max's weighty belts, screams and various noises of anger as well as his almost talk-sung lows added a lot of personality to his singing - one of self-aware self-loathing backed up with witty lines and very upfront metaphors that put Max's full life and self on display: almost like a direct musical manifestation of the feeling of being frustrated and pissed off. That was with the first few records at least.
After Say Anything's self titled record (where he sounds very weirdly androgynous), Max's voice decided to change in the opposite direction to how many singers' voices change when they smoke. Instead of losing his ability to sing high notes, he lost his ability to have tone below G♯2 and started abusing his high range more, making his very gritty D5s sound a lot easier than they should have and being able to talk-sing in a range that he'd normally sound like he was putting all his effort into belting at. This combination of weird placing and odd changes in sound made a lot more of his music sound like a goofy attempt at bitterness rather than acerbic honesty to the point where he'd almost become a parody of himself. Thankfully though, this era seems to be over with Max deciding to let out a lot more vocal flexibility on his... alt r&b side project?
Though he may not be the most technically gifted singer of all time, Max's voice is idiosyncratic as all hell and you're certainly not going to forget it or not be able to recognise it once you hear it... for better or for worse.
Significant High Notes:
B5 ("Ants in My Pants")
A5 ("The Writhing South"/"The Writhing South" Live in San Fransico 2014)
G♯5 ("Overbiter")
G5 ("A Certain Type of Genius", "All This Fashion")
F♯5 ("Barcelona")
F5 ("An Orgy Of Critics", "Attaboy", "Boyd", "In Defense Of The Genre", "Torches Apart", "Wowee Zowee")
E5 ("Black Hole", "Chia-Like I Shall Grow", "Cirque Le Douche", "Cliffwood", "Consigliore", "Fight Fair", "Girl's the Truth", "Give a Damn", "I Used To Have A Heart", "Rum", "So Numb", "Spidersong", "Slowly, Through a Vector", "That's That (Do What We Want)", "Torches Apart", "We Killed It", "Where the Hurt Is", "Wire Mom")
E♭5 ("Attaboy", "Bleeding Bat", "Property", "Psyche!", "Push")
D5 ("17 Coked Up Speeding", "Alive With the Glory Of Love"/"Alive With the Glory Of Love" live at the Newport Music Hall 2021, "The Best Night", "The Bret Easton School of Witchcraft and Wizardry", "Burn a Miracle", "Every Man Has a Molly" live at the Bowery Ballroom 2023, "Give a Damn", "Goshua", "Fucking Part 2 (Fucking on a Trampoline)", "In Defense Of The Genre", "Kall Me Kubrick", "Resounding", "Rum", "Try To Remember, Forget", "Turn Now, See", "You Help Them")
C♯5 ("#blessed", "Admit It Again", "Assimilate All Bastards", "Azalea", "Belt" live at the Bowery Ballroom 2023, "Bleeding Bat", "But A Fleeting Illness", "Crawl", "Daze", "Every Man Has a Molly", "Hate Everyone" live at Newport Music Hall 2021, "Have At Thee!", "Headrush", "Hebrews", "I Will Never Write an Obligatory Song About Being on the Road and Missing Someone", "Mara and Me", "Princess", "Push", "Skinny, Mean Man", "Surgically Removing The Tracking Device", "Veuve Clicquot")
C5 ("An Orgy Of Critics", "Anarchy, My Dear", "Bateman", "Boyd"/"Boyd", "Black Hole", "Come On", "Come On It's True", "Consigliore", "Dead Lizard", "Don't You Want to Come Here", "Eloise", "Evermore (and the grammy goes to)", "Grace Beyond Christ", "Jay Were a Jew", "Nay Nay", "No, Dear", "No Soul", "Piss King", "Rats", "She Won't Follow You", "Smash It", "Starve", "The Stephen Hawking", "That Is Why", "Turn Now, See", "Varicose Visage", "When I'm Acid", "Wire Mom", "Yellow (Slash) Red Cat", "You're The Wanker, If Anyone Is")
B4 ("A Look", "About Falling", "Admit It!!", "Admit It Again", "Ahhh… Men", "All This Fashion", "Assimilate All Bastards", "Azalea", "Bateman", "Belt" live at Slam Dunk Festival 2012, "The Best Night", "Cirque Le Douche", "Crush'd", "Even If You Don't", "Fight Fair", "Give a Damn", "Hangover Song", "Have At Thee!", "I Am a Transylvanian", "I Will Never Write an Obligatory Song About Being on the Road and Missing Someone", "It's a Metaphor, Fool", "It's a Process", "Jiminy", "John McClane", "Judas Decapitation", "Kall Me Kubrick", "Last", "Let's Start a Band", "Mouthbreather", "Ms. Martin", "Nay Nay", "Night's Song", "The Presidential Suite", "Property", "Psyche!", "Push", "Rum", "Scorpio", "Shiksa (Girlfriend)", "Six Six Six", "Skinny, Mean Man", "Smash It", "Spay Me", "Spidersong", "Surgically Removing The Tracking Device", "Torches Apart", "Try To Remember, Forget", "Until the Bombs", "U.S.", "Varicose Visage", "Veuve Clicquot", "Woe", "The Word You Wield", "You Don't See Me Right", "Young, Dumb and Stung")
B♭4 ("17 Coked Up Speeding", "Attaboy", "Baby Girl, I'm a Blur", "Burn a Miracle", "Come On", "Daze", "Floored", "Goshua", "Hate Everyone", "Hebrews", "I Need You", "If I Could Make You Do Things", "Less Cute", "Now You're Gonna Die", "She Won't Follow You", "Showdown at P-Town", "That's That (Do What We Want)", "This Fucking Ecstacy")
A4 ("#blessed", "17 Coked Up Speeding", "A Certain Type of Genius", "A Look", "All My Friends", "Alice", "Ants in My Pants", "Azalea", "Barcelona", "Baseball, But Better", "Bateman", "Belt", "Boyd", "Captive Audience", "Cemetery", "Chia-Like I Shall Grow", "Cirque Le Douche", "Crawl", "Eloise", "Even If You Don't", "Evermore (and the grammy goes to)", "Fight Fair", "For the Silent", "Fucking Part 2 (Fucking on a Trampoline)", "Girl's the Truth", "Grace Beyond Christ", "The Great Awakening", "The Hardest", "High School Low", "I Always Just Make Things Easy", "I Am a Transylvanian", "It's a Metaphor, Fool", "Jessie and My Whetstone", "Jiminy", "Judas Decapitation", "Kall Me Kubrick", "The Keg Is Bleeding!", "Little Star", "Most Beautiful Plague", "My Greatest Fear Is Splendid", "Navigate", "Nibble Nibble", "The Ocean Liner Incident", "The Painful Splits Wins", "Pink Snot", "Piss King", "The Presidential Suite", "Princess", "Rum", "Scorpio", "Send You Off", "Signal the Riflemen", "Simple Sweet", "Six Six Six", "Spay Me", "S.O.S.S.O.L.", "The Stephen Hawking", "Sunk 'Im", "To Let You In", "Torches Apart", "Try To Remember, Forget", "Until the Bombs", "We Can Work", "We Killed It", "We Will Erase All Life On Earth but Us", "Where the Hurt Is", "Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too", "The Writhing South", "You Don't See Me Right", "You Help Them", "You're The Wanker, If Anyone Is")
G♯4 ("A Boston Peace", "Admit It!!", "Admit It Again", "Ahhh… Men", "Alice", "Alive With the Glory Of Love" live at the Newport Music Hall 2021, "Attaboy", "Baby Girl, I'm a Blur", "Back Against the Wall", "Belig", "Belt", "The Best Night", "Bleeding Bat", "But A Fleeting Illness", "Colorblind", "Come On", "Crawl", "Crush'd", "Dead Lizard", "Do Better", "Don't You Want to Come Here", "Ew Jersey", "Fed to Death", "The Futile", "Hebrews", "I Am a Transylvanian", "I Need You", "Joel On Other Planets", "Last", "The Last Great Punk Rock Song", "Less Cute", "Let's Start a Band", "Mara and Me", "Mouthbreather", "Only One Of Us", "Of Steel", "Overbiter", "Plea", "The Presidential Suite", "Property", "Psyche!", "Push", "Say Anything", "Sediment", "The Shape Of Love To Come", "Shiksa (Girlfriend)", "Skinny, Mean Man", "Slumming It With Johnny", "Spidersong", "Sunk 'Im", "Sure, Baby…Hold Back", "Spores", "Total Revenge", "Varicose Visage", "Veuve Clicquot", "Weeoo", "The Word You Wield", "Wowee Zowee")
G4 ("A Certain Type of Genius", "About Falling", "All My Friends", "All This Fashion", "An Insult To The Dead", "An Orgy Of Critics", "Barcelona", "Baseball, But Better", "The Bat and the Cave", "Belig", "Black Hole", "Burn a Miracle", "Captive Audience", "Cemetery", "The Church Channel", "Consigliore", "Death For My Birthday", "Eloise", "Evermore (and the grammy goes to)", "Floored", "For the Silent", "Former Punisher Gone Rogue", "Fucking Part 2 (Fucking on a Trampoline)", "Goodbye Palace", "Goshua", "Grace Beyond Christ", "The Great Awakening", "Here's To You, Blue Eyes", "I Always Just Make Things Easy", "I Stopped Believing In You a Long Time Ago", "I Want To Know Your Plans", "In Defense Of The Genre", "It's a Process", "Jawbreaker", "Jay Were a Jew", "Jessie and My Whetstone", "John McClane", "Judas Decapitation", "The Keg Is Bleeding!", "Little Girls", "Lost My Touch", "Mental Music", "Most Beautiful Plague", "Nibble Nibble", "No, Dear", "No Soul", "Now You're Gonna Die", "The Ocean Liner Incident", "The Painful Splits Wins", "Pink Snot", "Plea", "Rats", "Remedy", "Resounding", "Sappy", "Send You Off", "Shameless", "Signal the Riflemen", "Slowly, Through a Vector", "Smash It", "Sorry, Dudes. My Bad", "Stand Inside Your Love", "That Is Why", "This Fucking Ecstacy", "Thoughts on a Liberal Education", "Truly", "Try To Remember, Forget", "Two of a Crime", "When I'm Acid", "Where the Hurt Is", "Wire Mom", "Woe", "Yellow (Slash) Red Cat", "You Help Them", "You're The Wanker, If Anyone Is", "You're Welcome")
F♯4 ("A Look", "A Walk Through Hell", "Admit It!!", "Ahhh… Men", "Alive With the Glory Of Love", "Anti-Anti", "Ants in My Pants", "Assimilate All Bastards", "Baby Girl, I'm a Blur", "The Band Fuel", "Bleeding Bat", "Chia-Like I Shall Grow", "Cirque Le Douche", "Crush'd", "Daze", "Do the Dohnk", "Don't You Want to Come Here", "Dreaming Of Manhattan", "Every Man Has a Molly", "Ew Jersey", "The Futile", "Hate Everyone", "Have At Thee!", "The Last Great Punk Rock Song", "I Love You More Than I Hate My Period", "In Your Eyes", "Into the Night", "Jiminy", "Joel On Other Planets", "Kall Me Kubrick", "The Keg Is Bleeding!", "Last", "Less Cute", "Like Frank Would", "Little Girls", "Little Star", "Mackdaddy", "Manhattan", "Mara and Me", "Ms. Martin", "My Bare Hands", "Neodouche", "Night's Song", "Of Steel", "Peace Out", "People Like You Are Why People Like Me Exist", "Piss On the Precedent", "Psyche!", "Rats", "Say Anything", "Sediment", "Shiksa (Girlfriend)", "So Numb", "Shameless", "She Got Away", "She Won't Follow You", "Sheep", "Silly Game", "Spidersong", "Sure, Baby…Hold Back", "Surgically Removing The Tracking Device", "That's That (Do What We Want)", "The Truth Is, You Should Lie With Me", "Until You", "We Will Erase All Life On Earth but Us", "The Writhing South", "Young, Dumb and Stung")
Significant Low Notes:
D3 ("A Boston Peace", "A Certain Type of Genius", "About Falling", "Alive With the Glory Of Love", "All This Fashion", "An Insult To The Dead", "An Orgy Of Critics", "Ants in My Pants", "Cemetery", "Chia-Like I Shall Grow", "Cliffwood", "Death For My Birthday", "Goodbye Palace", "Hangover Song", "I Used To Have A Heart", "I Want To Know Your Plans", "I'll Prove It", "In Defense Of The Genre", "It's a Metaphor, Fool", "Jay Were a Jew", "Mime", "My Greatest Fear Is Splendid", "Nibble Nibble", "No, Dear", "No Soul", "Pink Snot", "Piss On the Precedent", "Shameless", "Simple Sweet", "Slowly, Through a Vector", "Smash It", "Spay Me", "Stand Inside Your Love", "The Stephen Hawking", "That Is Why", "Time Right", "Torches Apart", "Woe", "The Worse", "Yellow (Slash) Red Cat", "You're The Wanker, If Anyone Is", "You Don't See Me Right", "You're Welcome")
C♯3 ("Ahhh… Men", "Belt", "Back Against the Wall", "Hate Everyone", "Hebrews", "I Will Never Write an Obligatory Song About Being on the Road and Missing Someone", "Neodouche", "Push", "Rats", "Sediment", "Silly Game", "We Killed It", "Your Father")
C3 ("A Boston Peace", "All Choked Up", "All My Friends", "All This Fashion", "The Bat and the Cave", "Do Better", "Girl's the Truth", "Eloise", "For the Silent", "Fucking Part 2 (Fucking on a Trampoline)", "Grace Beyond Christ", "The Great Awakening", "The Hardest", "High School Low", "Jawbreaker", "Like Their Mom", "Lost My Touch", "Mental Music", "Most Beautiful Plague", "My Greatest Fear Is Splendid", "Narcissus", "Nibble Nibble", "No, Dear", "Nudity", "The Ocean Liner Incident", "The Painful Splits Wins", "Sappy", "Showdown at P-Town", "Sorry, Dudes. My Bad", "They're Not Horses, They're Unicorns", "Torch Song", "Two of a Crime", "Weeoo", "Where the Hurt Is", "Wire Mom", "Wishbone", "Yellow (Slash) Red Cat")
B2 ("About Falling", "All My Friends Are Enemies", "Anti-Anti", "The Band Fuel", "Belt", "The Best Night", "But A Fleeting Illness", "Dealer", "Fired", "The Futile", "From Pizza to Glamour", "Goodbye Palace", "I Am a Transylvanian", "I Will Never Write an Obligatory Song About Being on the Road and Missing Someone", "Into the Night", "Joel On Other Planets", "Mouthbreather", "Navigate", "No Soul", "Our Sentence Is Up", "The Painful Splits Wins", "Peace Out", "Psyche!", "Resounding", "Re[DACTED] In Love", "Silly Game", "Slumming It With Johnny", "Spidersong", "Sure, Baby…Hold Back", "That's That (Do What We Want)", "They're Not Horses, They're Unicorns", "Torch Song", "Try Not to Save Me", "Vexed", "We Will Erase All Life On Earth but Us")
B♭2 ("Baby Girl, I'm a Blur", "Crush'd", "Death For My Birthday", "Deluxe", "Headrush", "Hebrews", "I Love You More Than I Hate My Period", "Mackdaddy", "Mara and Me", "Of Steel", "So Far", "Spidersong", "Two of a Crime", "Weeoo", "Where the Hurt Is")
A2 ("All Choked Up", "An Orgy Of Critics", "Ants in My Pants", "Black Hole", "By Tonight", "The Church Channel", "Cirque Le Douche", "Come On It's True", "Gorgeous", "The Great Awakening", "Jawbreaker", "Rats", "Shameless", "Slowly, Through a Vector", "Sunk 'Im", "Time Right", "To Let You In", "When I'm Acid", "Where the Hurt Is", "Wishbone", "The Word You Wield", "The Writhing South", "You Don't See Me Right")
G♯2 ("Attaboy", "Colorblind", "Deluxe", "Into the Night", "Joel On Other Planets", "Mackdaddy", "Psyche!", "Push", "Sure, Baby…Hold Back", "The Worse")
G2 ("All Choked Up", "Black Hole", "The Church Channel", "Eloise", "Fucking Part 2 (Fucking on a Trampoline)", "Goodbye Young Tutor, You've Now Outgrown Me", "Jawbreaker", "Like Their Mom", "Resounding", "Re[DACTED] In Love", "Simple Sweet", "Two of a Crime")
F♯2 ("By Tonight", "Gorgeous", "Property", "The Writhing South" acoustic live 2011)
F2 ("Evermore (and the grammy goes to)")
E2 ("Fucking Part 2 (Fucking on a Trampoline)", "Goodbye Young Tutor, You've Now Outgrown Me", "Grace Beyond Christ", "Slumming It With Johnny")
E♭2 ("Property")
C♯2 ("Sediment", "The Word You Wield")
C2 ("Mental Music", "No Soul")
B1 ("Sunk 'Im")
{Questionable Notes}E♭6 ("Piss King" [4?])
C6 ("Yellow (Slash) Red Cat" [1])
B♭5 ("Mackdaddy" [1])
F♯5 ("Chia-Like I Shall Grow" [1])
E5 ("You Help Them" [5])
D5 ("Bateman" [2])
C♯5 ("She Got Away" [1])
C5 ("John McClane" [2], "Remedy" [2])
B♭4 ("Metal Now" [2])
G2 ("High School Low" [1], "Hebrews" [5])
E♭2 ("Like Their Mom" [5])
E2 ("Greased" [1])
D2 ("That Is Why" [2])
C2 ("Consigliore" [2][4], "Torch Song" [1])
..................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.
C6 ("Yellow (Slash) Red Cat" [1])
B♭5 ("Mackdaddy" [1])
F♯5 ("Chia-Like I Shall Grow" [1])
E5 ("You Help Them" [5])
D5 ("Bateman" [2])
C♯5 ("She Got Away" [1])
C5 ("John McClane" [2], "Remedy" [2])
B♭4 ("Metal Now" [2])
G2 ("High School Low" [1], "Hebrews" [5])
E♭2 ("Like Their Mom" [5])
E2 ("Greased" [1])
D2 ("That Is Why" [2])
C2 ("Consigliore" [2][4], "Torch Song" [1])
..................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.
{Discography}Say Anything
Baseball: An Album By Say Anything (2001): G2 - B5
…Is a Real Boy (2004): A2 - A5
In Defense of the Genre (2007): C2 - C♯2 - D5 - F5
Say Anything (2009): E♭2 - C5 - E♭5
Anarchy, My Dear (2012): B♭2 - D5 - G♯5
All My Friends Are Enemies Discs 2 & 3 (2013): F♯2 - G5
Hebrews (2014): G♯2 - D5 - F5
I Don't Think It Is (2016): G♯2 - F5
Oliver Appropriate (2019): C♯2 - C♯5
Two Tongues
Two Tongues (2009): B2 - C5 - F5
Two Tongues Two (2016): G2 - F♯5
Max Bemis & the Painful Splits
Max Bemis & the Painful Splits (2010): B2 - B4 - C♯5
Max Bemis & the Painful Splits 2 (2011)*
The Painful Splits Destroy (2011): G2 - E♭5
The Painful Splits Are Multiplying (2013)*
Max Bemis & the Painful Splits Stripped Down (2014): A2 - C5 - D5
Perma
Two of a Crime (2013): G2 - B4 - C5
Fight Fair (2016): A2 - D5 - E5
Maxim Mental
Make Team Mental Presents Maxim Mental in Maximalism (2022): B1 - E5
Italics mark EPs
Grey marks compilations
* marks albums that are incomplete due to material being hard to find
..................................................Baseball: An Album By Say Anything (2001): G2 - B5
…Is a Real Boy (2004): A2 - A5
In Defense of the Genre (2007): C2 - C♯2 - D5 - F5
Say Anything (2009): E♭2 - C5 - E♭5
Anarchy, My Dear (2012): B♭2 - D5 - G♯5
All My Friends Are Enemies Discs 2 & 3 (2013): F♯2 - G5
Hebrews (2014): G♯2 - D5 - F5
I Don't Think It Is (2016): G♯2 - F5
Oliver Appropriate (2019): C♯2 - C♯5
Two Tongues
Two Tongues (2009): B2 - C5 - F5
Two Tongues Two (2016): G2 - F♯5
Max Bemis & the Painful Splits
Max Bemis & the Painful Splits (2010): B2 - B4 - C♯5
Max Bemis & the Painful Splits 2 (2011)*
The Painful Splits Destroy (2011): G2 - E♭5
The Painful Splits Are Multiplying (2013)*
Max Bemis & the Painful Splits Stripped Down (2014): A2 - C5 - D5
Perma
Two of a Crime (2013): G2 - B4 - C5
Fight Fair (2016): A2 - D5 - E5
Maxim Mental
Make Team Mental Presents Maxim Mental in Maximalism (2022): B1 - E5
Italics mark EPs
Grey marks compilations
* marks albums that are incomplete due to material being hard to find
• Blue denotes falsetto and whistle passages.
• Green denotes harshly distorted passages.
• Grey denotes fried/growled/other low note technique passages.
• Boldface denotes outstanding passages.
• Italics denote non-melodic and spoken passages.
• Underlines denote obscured and background passages.
