Say Anything SAY ANYTHING

Clocking in at 46 minutes--nearly half the running time of 2007's IN DEFENSE OF THE GENRE--Say Anything's fourth album is both trim and tuneful, with Sam Bemis devoting more focus than ever to the tightening of his quirky, unchained pop songs. "Focus" is a relative term, of course; the frontman still finds time to run wild throughout this disc, rearranging conventional song structures like Picasso and sampling from multiple genres--emo, rock, punk-pop, R&B, even doo-wop--with greedy glee. The choruses boast stronger hooks this time around, though, which lends heft to Say Anything's musical mishmash, and the band's willingness to break rules is what makes this album so refreshing. Arriving at the tail end of 2009, a year in which most emo-pop was compressed, polished, and wholly indebted to Top 40 radio, SAY ANYTHING is as unpredictable as they come, boasting thirteen tracks that sound dangerous and delicious at the same time. "There are babies with guns beheading their friends in s