I’ll buy anythng even tangentially related to Saves the Day, so of course I was excited when Chris Conley’s side project, Two Tongues, released its first album. Chris shares singing duties with the dude from Say Anything, who I don’t love, but hey, it’s Chris, right? Anything he does is awesome. Right?

I’m listening to the Two Tongues album and I’m trying hard to put my finger on why I don’t like it, and I can come up with lots of little things - the wannabe Beatles flair that’s been popping up in Saves the Day for the past couple albums is front and center here; the poppiness is too bright and shiny, whereas with Saves the Day it’s always a little dark and dirty…

But the big reason, I realize, is pretty petty. I just can’t stand to hear Chris Conley play backup singer. Or rather - I can’t stand to hear his voice alongside anyone else’s. It’s such a marvelous, fragile, special thing that when you hear this other dude’s conventional manly-man voice boxing it in, it sounds flimsy, diminished, naive. Like a child’s. There are some good songs on Two Tongues, but they’re pretty conventional, and Chris Conley’s uncanny blend of stark joy and real pain get lost in the mix.

Plus this shit really does sound way too much like the post-emo Beatles.

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