Say Anything's Max Bemis bares his soul in his lyrics

On the band's fourth full-length CD, simply titled "Say Anything," Bemis opens the windows to his psyche on cuts such as "Hate Everyone," "Death for My Birthday" and "Young, Dumb and Stung." If you read between the lines, you get glimpses of Bemis' difficult past (drug addiction, bipolar disorder) as well as his band's tumultuous beginnings.

"I don't feel like I'm telling too much," Bemis, 25, says by phone from a tour stop in Houston. "In real life, my sense of humor and the way I talk is that way anyway. I'm a put-it-all-out-there kind of guy. So I like those kinds of lyrics. I never want to affect certain people, but even then I don't worry about it that much. The music is such a reflection of who I am. I really do take it very seriously. I really take responsibility for it. But it's like talking to a friend. It's the relationship I've built with our fans. They expect a certain level of substance from me, and I work really hard to maintain that."

"Say Anything" is perhaps the indie rock band's most fully realized record. It streamlines the ambitious monolith that was 2007's "In Defense of the Genre" and sounds much more mature than the outfit's first two efforts, 2001's "Baseball: An Album by Sayanything" and 2004's "... Is a Real Boy."

The new disc toys with punk-pop, funk and heavy metal. The songs are immediate, filled with hooks and energetic.

"I'm 25 now, and the first couple of records I was like 18 and then 22, 23," he says. "Now I am at a whole new span in life like anyone is at this age. I led a pretty unhealthy life ... my habits ... and my mentality was pretty negative. For years I went through a lot of ups and downs. This new record talks about how I grew out of these things ... self-empowerment, I fell in love, got married. The songs, although they are still pretty dark and sardonic, they are informed by this really hopeful belief that is apparent in the music."

Formed nine years ago in Los Angeles, when Bemis was 16, Say Anything quickly became entangled in the city's fast-paced rock scene. In 2003, the group signed with independent label Doghouse Records. Two years later they inked a deal with Sony Music Entertainment _ first on the J Records imprint and now on RCA.

The first five years of Say Anything were erratic, punctuated by several personnel changes and the effects of Bemis' declining physical and mental state. He eventually spent time in a mental institution.

"We grew up in a really strange environment as young musicians in LA," he says. "We were placed in an industry situation when we were 15, 16 years old. There was always an element of finding my way. I was so young. It wasn't until recently that I have considered myself a real adult."

Bemis, who comes off as candid and levelheaded in the interview, feels that the new CD is artistically, not to mention personally, cathartic.

"We found an identity for ourselves. I don't feel like we are tied to any particular movement. There is something real, independent and different about our band, and I'm really proud of that. We were lumped into many movements before, and we have come out in a better place and with more identity."

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