Once upon a time, two lonely, broken boys met and revealed a mutual admiration for each other. Thereafter, Two Tongues was born. Led by Max Bemis (Say Anything) and Chris Conley (Saves the Day), Two Tongues’ self-titled debut is an open letter to the world about Bemis’s and Conley’s give and take.

For the first half of the record, Bemis and Conley (along with STD’s David Soloway and SA’s Coby Linder) meld the sounds of their respective bands. The union is natural, pulling out some of the best features from each. Lead single “Crawl” is a prime example of this. An all-around strong track, it features Bemis and Conley playing off one another and delivering the heart-wrenching feeling that both bands so often produce. The instrumentals kick back and forth between the grit of Saves the Day and the theater of Say Anything, resulting a track that warrants listening to semi-obsessively.

“Wowee Zowee” possesses the ever-coveted sing-along/shout-along element, and “Come On” is so simple and energetic that it reminds listeners why they fell in love with Saves the Day and Say Anything (and for that matter pop-punk and emo in general) in the first place. The most lyrically blatant declaration of love between Conley and Bemis comes with the song “Tremors”, but their admiration for each other, both musically and personally, is apparent all over the record.

In the second half of the album, Two Tongues heads in a bit of new direction for all involved. “Back Against the Wall” takes on a detached 80s groove, while “Alice” incorporates piano and post-production maniupulation. The boys also decide to end the album with some charm, covering Ween’s oddly appropriate ‘love’ song “Even If You Don’t”.

While Two Tongues doesn’t knock every track out of the park, there is more than enough good material to get the thumbs up.

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Two Tongues drops 02/03/09.
Listen to tracks from the album here.