FEBRUARY 28, 2008, 3:10 pm
From folk troubadour Bob Dylan to proto-punk visionary Lou Reed to the king of rock 'n' roll excess, KISS founder Gene Simmons, the list of Jewish rock legends is surprisingly long and varied. And yet, while many have earned both fame and fortune, most of their fans neither know nor care that they happen to be Jewish. What's more, even fewer of the stars themselves openly advertise their religion.
And then there's Max Bemis.
The 23-year-old singer-songwriter for the Los Angeles-based Say Anything not only openly discusses his religious identity, but he has gone as far as making Judaism the focal point of his band's music. And somehow, even with references to the afikoman and Treblinka, Say Anything has managed to sell nearly a quarter- million records. Their latest release, the 27-song double album, In Defense of the Genre, hit shelves late last year, debuting to wide critical acclaim and selling 25,000 copies in its first week. Last month, Bemis and his current bandmates - Jeff and Jake Turner, Parker Case, Alex Kent and Coby Linder - took to the road on a full North American tour to find out firsthand how their Myspace generation fans respond to the new material, which includes such Jewishthemed fare as "Shiksa (Girlfriend)" and "Died a Jew."
As befitting a band that so directly addresses Judaism, Say Anything was set in motion when Bemis and drummer Coby Linder met as teenagers at Camp Ramah, a Conservative-affiliated sleep-away camp in Ojai, Calif. The band became official with the addition of guitarist Evan Span and bassist Mike Levin in 2001, but both Span and Levin left before the band's debut LP later that year, and Say Anything has endured several line-up changes since, with Bemis and Linder remaining the sole constants. Despite the band's overtly Jewish origins, however, the goal has never been to explore Judaism through song. Instead, Bemis uses much of what he learned in Jewish day school and in his childhood home to dissect more secular and broadly palatable themes - undying love and marginalization chief among them.
Bemis uses much of what he learned in Jewish day school and in his childhood home to dissect more secular and broadly palatable themes - undying love and marginalization chief among them.
"It's how I was raised, in a strong Jewish environment," Bemis recently told Kirk Miller of Metromix.com. "It was evident through my entire life, and I try to express that. I guess it's coming out more and more. I think my mom appreciates it, though. I think she likes the humor I bring to it." Musically, the band is most often classified as emo - a rock genre that rose to prominence in the early part of this decade. Short for "emotional," emo is known for melodramatic, guitar-driven choruses and self-lacerating, diary-esque lyrics. Some of the most commercially successful emo artists include Dashboard Confessional and Saves the Day, both of whom Say Anything has toured with in the past. However, the emo tag the band has been stuck with isn't entirely accurate, as Say Anything has stretched the genre's rigid confines more than most. Their major label debut in August 2004 on J Records, …Is A Real Boy, wisely eschews emo's tinny guitar tones and borrows liberally from 70's power pop, giving the songs an unusually classic finish. The album's blistering first single, "Alive with the Glory of Love," was inspired by the story of Bemis' maternal grandparents, who met when his grandfather liberated his grandmother from a concentration camp. As its title suggests, "Alive" is less somber reflection than a celebration of love's ability to triumph even in the most desperate of circumstances - hence the purposely jarring refrain: "Our Treblinka is alive with the glory of love!"
...Is A Real Boy sold well on the strength of "Alive," which peaked at No. 28 on the Billboard modern rock chart, but the album's performance was even more impressive given that the band was unable to promote it properly. Bemis' bouts with bipolar disorder, which apparently caused paranoid delusions, forced the band to pull out of two tours, including one opening for Saves the Day in late 2005, and landed him an extended stay in a mental ward.
J Records, to its credit, not only decided to stick by Bemis through his dark period (he is now reportedly much better and treating his condition with appropriate medication), but bankrolled the absurdly ambitious follow-up, In Defense of the Genre. The title, in truth, is a bit of a misnomer. While the sprawling, 27-song collection bears certain unmistakable emo hallmarks - Bemis' wounded vocals and towering choruses chief among them - it also ventures far beyond the established template, incorporating Queen-esque prog rock and ominous synth pop. Genre isn't so much a defense of emo as a redefinition. And the band does it all within the context of a concept album, concerning an unraveling relationship and Bemis' own very public meltdown.
If it sounds like a departure...Is A Real Boy, that's because it is - and a radical one at that. In fact, one of the few remaining elements from the Boy era is Bemis' fascination with Judaism. And this time out, the references are both more explicit and confrontational. On the first disc alone, we get the aforementioned "Shiksa (Girlfriend)" and "Died a Jew." The latter features the none-toosubtle chorus "Jesus died a Jew / Pupils painted blue / You haters know it's true / Jesus died a Jew." And that chorus is then followed with an apology in jest for "murdering God."
For other songwriters, the provocation might end there, except Bemis, like any good emo kid - or Jew for that matter - can't resist the urge for self-critique. "I think I'm fine the way I am," he sings in "Died a Jew." "And yes, I chase my milk with ham."
Jonathan Garrett's articles have appeared in The Chicago Reader, Miami New Times and Minneapolis/St. Paul City Pages. He currently lives in Minneapolis.
By: Jonathan Garrett, World Jewish Digest.
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Comments for this News article
Re: A Jewish Kind of Pop Song
Mon, 2009-12-07 00:10 — marrydrew
What is the writer of the biggest lesbian pop song of the 90s doing performing in a Jewish cultural center? Well, it doesn't take much digging through the discography of singer-songwriter Jill Sobule, best known for her 1995 hit "work from home," to reveal a healthy interest in Jewish themes. Judaism was a definite focus at her recent concert at Makor, New York's newest center for Jewish culture, from her opening declaration of "I'm home!" to her encore, a jaunty sing-along rendition of Fiddler on the Roof's "Sunrise, Sunset." (She seemed to be one of the few people in the room who knew all the words.)
Nice
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Selling in Jewish community
Tue, 2009-04-21 05:43 — computerluv
The guy from "KISS" is not only Jewish - he is Israeli, he's from Haifa.
Also if we're talking about sells from Jewish, there's a Jewish based Israeli company called Plimus which is all about selling software online.
Thanks!
Not going to lie...
Thu, 2008-02-28 15:43 — YeaIamMe
I'm kind of missing the "...Is A Real Boy" style of music.
a lot.
Bring back the rawness!!!
Awesome Article
Fri, 2008-02-29 13:58 — safreak11
That article was great!! But the author forgot Josh Eichenstein was an original band member too. Thank you wikipedia!
getting jews out there
Sat, 2008-03-01 11:28 — Sorrydudesmybad
max bemis is doing a great job of getting jews out there as being considered as people really showing people in areas were there are not alot of jews that jews are not just a steriotype hes even getting the holacoust out there max is doing a great job
--
what were u expecting a signature?
....
Mon, 2008-03-31 18:24 — kbeth33
Yeah "Is A Real Boy"....is perfect , i wonder wat his next album will sound like
Irony
Thu, 2008-04-03 16:40 — jayturkk
I'm not Jewish, but I would just like to say that in my European history class this year we've learned a lot about religions and how corrupt many of them were, murdering people in the name of God and reform and taking bribes and stealing land from people, you know very "un-Godly" things. Catholics, which I am, being at the forefront of most of these attacks and yet, the Jewish religion never seemed to come up in any of these talks. Seeming to be the least corrupt of them all, not harming anyone or trying to convert all of Europe, but still being the ones that were deemed the "menaces of Europe" and were exiled and killed. I just found it messed up and ironic, that others who were so adamant about converting everyone and didn't think twice about killing the innocent to do it were so quick to point the finger at others who were doing nothing to them and turn everyone else against them.
Just an observation I made recently and thought I'd share. Although I'm sure most already knew this.
