Inconsistent Two Tongues debut deserves big raspberry

According to Greek mythology, humans originally were created with four legs, four hearts and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them apart, condemning them to spend their entire lives in search of their other half.

Meet lead singers Chris Conley and Max Bemis.

If they're not musical soul mates, they sure are the yin to each other's yang.

A side project formed by Bemis and Coby Linder of Say Anything and Conley and David Soloway of Saves the Day, Two Tongues favors extreme opposites: light and dark, happy and sad, friendships and relationships, calm and obnoxious, indie rock and pop punk.

But just because they fill the parts they never knew they were missing, doesn't necessarily mean it's entirely successful.

The self-titled debut starts out strong then progressively gets worse.

Their hit "Crawl," with its loud-quiet battles in the verses and booming chorus, is a perfect example of Conley and Bemis working together like two halves of one brain.

The single was released online long before their debut, and there's no doubt why: The emotionally charged song inevitably sets a high standard the rest never achieve.

Despite their second attempt at a melodramatic number, "If I Could Make You Do Things" sets the predictable template for the rest of the album with the whiney, nasal vocal interplay between Conley and Bemis. The mixture between punk/emo lyrics and dance beats never has been more awkward.

However, some hope does reside in songs such as "Wowee Zowee."

Churning power chords and complementary drums make the upbeat single quite catchy, although the chorus sounds very Avril Lavigne-esque: "Hey Hey, cut it out / I don't want to go home unless I'm not alone / Hey Hey, cut it out / I don't want to know now." Still, it's bound to get stuck in your head for days. Whether that's a good or bad thing has yet to be decided.

Any positive momentum comes to a halt with "Back Against the Wall," the black sheep of the album. The psychedelic synth lines and redundant guitar riffs could be mistaken for a cheesy Michael Jackson song or even pulled from an old school Sonic The Hedgehog video game. The attempt at a somewhat seductive song deserves the cold shoulder as it proves to be the biggest disappointment yet.

The aforementioned Chinese notion of yin and yang promotes harmony and order, a blend of opposites, all of which Two Tongues lack.

It's easy to pick out the Say Anything attributes from the Saves the Day trademarks, and the group's sense of order -- or lack thereof -- is all over the place. This combination of both otherwise successful bands is unworthy of the asking price: You're better off paying the extra money to support each act separately.