Say Anything - Oliver Appropriate (January 25, 2019) Album • Page 53

Precisely. I HAVE read that manifesto (I mean, as much of it as I could muster, it's a mess) and I can to the same conclusion as i'm doing now. The concept itself is very questionable. As if we don't hear those things enough, as if gay and trans people getting killed by violent partners who have internalised shit isn't a REAL thing that happens all the time.

 

I greatly dislike this album for a good handful of reasons and I'm hoping I'll be able to write about it in the next week or so

 

I’ve seen a lot of LGBT people tweeting @ Max about how much this album means to them, and I’ve seen a bunch of other people say this album is helping them come to grips with their own thoughts on sexuality.

As a straight guy, I can’t easily speak to these topics...but this album is certainly being seen in many different lights.

 

I like it.

 

yeah I’m not touching the concept as a straight man

 

I’m also not ruling out Trans/LGBT people feeling weird/conflicted about it either.


All I know is this is the most focused he’s been musically since Self Titled/ half of Hebrews.

 

Yeah, of course. I doubt the LGBT Say Anything fans speak for everyone, but there are definitely some who enjoy the album greatly.

And I agree. The songwriting is top notch.

 

as much as Max wants to believe that this character he created isn't really him, i think it's just an avenue to let out all of his internalized thoughts. i mean, it's not like he really wants to kill his gay lover in real life or anything, but as far as the emotions and feelings across the album go, i think this is him at his most honest, being able to hide behind the guise of a character

 

I mean, he did say he wouldn't date a guy unless he was desperate in that really weird twitterlong post or whatever. I mean, he seems to be unsure himself.

I'm hetero so I don't claim to understand what others have gone through in that community. I know I've been confused at times, but never to a degree that made my life drastically different and so I feel there's a lot here I can't connect with. I'm sure there are people who can and people who appreciates that he's putting out something that might speak to their internal monologues or troubles. I just don't know and would like to hear more detailed responses from people who truly relate to his words.

Edit: I'm adding context to my post so people can weigh in properly:

"And though I’m “queer”, I’m BORING QUEER. I am a guy who loves girls and couldn’t really fall in love with a guy unless I was desperate…or wait. Maybe that’s a lie. In fact, maybe that’s why all this progressed the way it is. Emo fanboys KINDA fell in love with singers of our favorite emo bands and projected ourselves onto them because we saw Daddy and wanted to be him. Sexless emo marriages across Hot Topics across the globe between grown men and boys." - Max

 

yeah the whole oooohhhh the prospect of sex with men is gross ooohhh gay is yucky like get a hold of yourself man. We get it you have unresolved internalised stuff no need to make us involved in it.
Max has also systematically blocked lgbt people who expressed concern about the album's concept or his transphobia-tinted tweets a few weeks ago, so, you know.

 

The only songs I enjoyed on my first listen were ‘Your Father’, ‘Daze’, and ‘Sediment’.

This is great news to me because I really only want to listen to S/T.

 

When this leaked, I was a bit underwhelmed with it because it didn’t meet the expectations I had for it, so I never came back to it with the exception of Daze and Pink Snot, which I’ve listened to either both at least once a day. But now that I’m giving it a second chance, it’s a lot better than I remembered. Highlights for me: Daze, Pink Snot, Ew Jersey, Mouthbreather, Captive Audience, Your Father (would love to see Chris work with Max and Sherri more often), Send You Off, It’s A Process, Sediment.

 

Friendly, not-trying-to-be-a-dick advice for non-queer people:

There are plenty of queer Say Anything fans on this forum right here, right now saying that they don't dig the album and are deeply uncomfortable with the concept of it. You don't need to remind us that there are other queer people who do dig the album. That's fine, and also incredibly obvious. We're not a united front any more than straight people are a united front. It's not going to change our minds, and it definitely shouldn't make you feel *~better~* about enjoying this album just to know that there are vocal fans of it online who are also members of the LGBTQ+ community. It doesn't make the album non-problematic. It's still problematic.

 

“Your Father” is Karl from Museum Mouth and Brianna from Tigers Jaw actually. :)

 

Lol wow, Idk why I googled the name for lead singer of Can’t Swim (Chris LoPorto), got the band names mixed up. I knew the name Chris didn’t sound familiar!

Also did not know that was Brianna on that track, Coolio!

 

Yeah, Briana sounds amazing on that song. It’s a bummer that she didn’t do anything else on this album.

 

As a gay man who still struggles with my identity despite being largely out, this album means a lot to me. I’ve said it before, but I’ll mention again, Karl’s involvement through the entire process really makes a difference to me since a gay man was also given a voice for the project. I believe that Max is a good person who truly harbors no hate for any group and that it’s appropriate for him to wrestle with his own sexuality how he needs to.

I 100% understand if it rubs people the wrong way and they find it problematic, but I also don’t think it’s wrong to enjoy this album and think it’s really a grey area and up to the individual to decide whether they are comfortable with it/can get something out of it.

 

i think he's definitely unsure, and i'm sure being very deep into a marriage and having a beautiful family like he does, makes that part even more difficult for him, because of course he would say that when he loves his wife so much. i'm sure it's more him having a crush on his idols than him wanting to be in a relationship with a man. but, i doubt he would even be able to know for sure if he's "queer enough" to fall in love with a guy, when he's so in love with his wife, and that's okay.

but i think a lot of feelings from this album come from a much different place than simply being able to date a guy or not. like the multiple lyrics about getting high and snorting pills when he's mentioned snorting antidepressants during the writing of the album. or thing's like a father not taking it lightly when his son kissed another man. or, being confused about how modern sexuality works.

i dunno, i just don't buy that this character is the opposite of himself as he's claimed. sure, some things may have been greatly exaggerated. but i think all of this stuff comes from a very real place, it just was turned into a plot and storyline, for max to be able to be comfortable expressing it at all.

 

This is a solid piece. I like the way you think.

 

Yeah, as far as I’m concerned, he can’t really hide behind the “it’s just a character!!” excuse for these lyrics after that whole Twitter rant he went on, and the way he responded to being told he was being transphobic.

 

He’s definitely been saying some dumb stuff on Twitter.

 

I like Max on Twitter, because you never know what you’re gonna get. Yesterday he was over analyzing a Snoop Dogg lyric where Snoop mentions the size of his balls.

Wtf? Haha.

 

Not to subtweet whoever said it, but “It’s like ‘Died A Jew’ but about sexuality” sounds like something I wouldn’t touch with a 50-foot pole. That song is so gross that Max is lucky to have rarely been called out for it.

 

I really dislike Died A Jew, but since I'm not Jewish and Max is, I can't really speak to whether or not the song is worthy of being called out. Being gross is pretty on-brand for the band. Not saying it's right, and not really interested in this album anyway

 

As someone who is Jewish, and someone who never took a deep look at the song lyrics till now, the only offensive line I see is “my people were slaves before yours invented hip-hop” which reads like a thinly-veiled way of saying “we had it worse.” Really gross, but then again, I have no idea what the message of that song is in its context. Maybe someone can expand on that?