Max Bemis, the musician who makes music under the band name Say Anything, says doing the new Say Anything CD, In Defense of the Genre, was a draining experience. But at least it was taxing for the right reasons. "In its scope and in the fact that I had to put 100 percent of myself into it, as I have to do because it's a lot about me, recording most of the instruments and singing all of (vocals), and also it being a double album, it really took a lot out of me," Bemis said of In Defense of the Genre. ''But it was an extremely pleasurable, almost like a luxurious experience." On In Defense of the Genre, the Say Anything sound has grown a bit harder and edgier, with songs like 'Surgically Removing The Tracking Device' and the title track among the songs that pack a particular big punch. But Bemis' talent for strong pop melodies is also intact, and for a two-CD set with so many songs, the quality of the music is notably consistent.