Set Your Goals - Mutiny
Rating
RIYL
Daggermouthearly-New Found Glory
early-Saves the Day
Lifetime
Label
Eulogy RecordingsTracklist
1. Work In Progress2. We Do It For The Money, OBVIOUSLY!
3. Dead Men Tell No Tales
4. Mutiny!
5. This Song Is Definitely NOT About A Girl
6. An Old Book Misread
7. This Very Moment
8. Flight Of The Navigator
9. To Be Continued...
10. Don't Let This Win Over You
11. Echoes
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Damn near everything in life is a game of medians. As humans we are conditioned by everything around us, ranging from significant others to sports to politics, to believe that if we can find this mythologized “middle ground” then most of our problems would be solved and our compromises would be equal and wholly successful. Think about it, how many times have you heard your girlfriend or SoCo loving boyfriend try to explain to you that the two of you aren’t finding the middle ground? How many times have you heard some U.S. soccer announcer stumble over the theory that the winner of each match is typically the one that controls the midfield? How many times have you said that you don’t necessarily want a Republican or a Democrat, but you want someone that holds ideologies from both camps, thus remaining in the middle? Hell, even in our Lord of the Rings videogames we are battling for some place called “Middle Earth!” Well, music is no exception to this rule of medians, as bands are often confronted with the obstacle of balancing out the topics and song structures of their albums. This is a concept that San Fransisco’s fastest rising melodic hardcore band, Set Your Goals, has mastered on Mutiny!, their follow-up to the widely popular and widely downloaded Reset EP.
Throughout their half-hour sophomore release, Set Your Goals proves that they are more than a flash in the pan band by honing their abilities to not only craft a fun, energetic, and exciting album, but also one that injects intelligent lyricism into the mix creating the perfect balance of balls out anthems and inspiring songwriting. From the moment that Mutiny! kicks off with “Work in Progress,” listeners are quickly introduced to the fact that Set Your Goals have indeed grown up in their semi-short existence by shedding your atypical fast, in your face opening for a more mature, acoustic build-up; however, have no fear as the boys don’t fail on their promises and shortly thereafter crank up the energy underneath a fist clinching, carpe diem tinged spoken word interlude which gives way to the speedy drum chops, energetic riffage, and powerful gang vocals that we have all come to expect and love out of the Set Your Goals camp.
As any successful opener should, “Work in Progress” finishes with an anxious build up and quickly leads us into “We Do It For the Money, OBVIOUSLY!,” which is the first re-surfacing of the notorious leaked label-shopping demos that induced couch moshing across the nation; however, it is also the first instance of the only possible detracting argument one could make about Mutiny!. Once a few finished tracks from Mutiny! were released onto the internet, fans and haters alike started talking about the production of the CD and it’s obviously cleaner and glossier nature. Hell, upon first listen, I myself even found this polished overcoat to be a little much and even thought that it drained some of the life out of the rawer, more DIY styling of the leaks; however it is important for everyone to realize that those demos you all handed out to your friends and blared through your car speakers were never meant to be heard, as their sole purpose was to help the band find the appropriate label to release this album on… and they did just that! So, once given a truly fair chance with born again virgin ears, I quickly fell in love all over again with these songs in their quality, finished forms.
This second track begins one of the most important themes that is explored on Mutiny!, as it serves as a tongue-in-cheek look at the claims they had sold their souls and their music to a label for money and fame, yet the boys in Set Your Goals have done anything but that. Today’s hardcore music scene seems to be going through an identity crisis right now, as it can’t quite swallow the increased attention it is garnering, yet it also can’t quite truly re-embrace the “DIY, fuck all authority” beginnings that made it an important genre in the first place. Set Your Goals boldly acknowledges this and rather than turning their head and trying to ignore the growing issue, they blatantly lay it out with lines like “Who are you to say what is real and what is fake / And who hear matters anyway? / It’s nothing that I haven’t heard” and “We’re all sell outs in your eyes, that’s no surprise, well we never tried to disguise everything that we want to be.”
While I can’t vouch for the band on a personal note, through their music it has been obvious from the start that they wanted to play the music they wanted to play and no matter how popular it made them or didn’t make them they would roll with the punches. That very mindset is completely respectable and the closest thing that this MTV-infested scene has to honesty. Why does everyone get so pissed when a band starts getting to the point that their music supports them fully financially?
As the disc continues on, Matt Wilson and Jordan Brown’s tag team vocal prowess takes off and leads us through the escalating “Dead Man Tell No Tales” and into one of the strongest tracks on the album, “Mutiny!.” With this track, the guys lends us insight into the sketchy process they had to endure when it came time to shop around for different labels and the accompanying yearning they felt for times when it was all a bit more simple, honest, and pure. Once again taking a sarcastic approach to the issue, the lyrics on the title track serve as the perfect accompaniment to the rousing, high-intensity instrumentation and the second carpe-diem spoken word moment thus far on the disc. Rarely do bands attempt to connect to their audiences as much as Set Your Goals does on Mutiny!, which is probably somewhat of a response to the fact that they’ve been branded sellouts by some and been run through the ringers of the shady business side of the music world.
While song by song reviews are often times monotonous, I feel like this is the only way to cover this disc, as its importance revolves around each song’s lyrical content. Sure, Set Your Goals music may lack in instrumental creativity at times and it may scream early New Found Glory on this disc, but the fact of the matter is that these guys never came out trying to change the music world. Instead, their goal was to play what they wanted, have fun doing it, and re-kindle the flames of genuine, good times melodic hardcore; however, differing from their EP, Mutiny! does contain a few songs that dare the listener’s beliefs and comprehensions, which is extremely ballsy coming from a band that is more or less known for simply providing fast tunes and fun times.
For instance, “This Song Is Definitely NOT About a Girl” is an in your face, call to arms for kids to start listening to the words they're singing rather than simply jumping on their friends and missing the point. While this doesn’t seem like something that Set Your Goals would address, it’s an extremely vital move, because this CD does lean so heavily on it’s lyrical content, as it should (after all, why sing songs that you don’t even understand and believe in?!).
Another lyrical chance Set Your Goals takes on their latest comes in the song “An Old Book Misread” which serves as a criticism of sorts to organized religion and the blind acceptance of it; however, it is tastefully done, which should be commended, as many bands that walk on this side of the fence don’t exactly know how to respect those on the other side.
As the CD comes to a close, vintage Set Your Goals (if there is such a thing this early in a band’s career) comes back to center stage a bit more, as the lyrical themes shift back towards the posi-core messages we have grown accustomed to hearing from these guys. From the personal importance the band places on the brotherhood at their shows and amongst their true friends to the empowering ideals of succeeding on one’s own hard work and strong will, Set Your Goals’ views on living a positive and genuine lifestyle remain fresh, despite the growing number of bands that half-heartedly preach these issues onstage nightly.
All in all, Mutiny! is truly a more matured, thought out, and properly funded Set Your Goals record that shows that the band has found that perfect middle ground in which they combine youthfulness, fun, and energy with intelligence, awareness, and additional promise. Many listeners may feel like this release was a bit lifeless or over-produced, but chances are these are some of the same listeners that the band discredits and calls out in many of their songs. If Set Your Goals is one thing, it is honest, to both themselves and their fans… and that’s pretty rare in the music business today, just take it from them. The chances that Set Your Goals have taken on Mutiny!, both lyrically and instrumentally, are the very things that push this album over the top and make it more than just another melodic posi-core record – instead, it’s a lock as one of the best releases of the year in my eyes. So, even if the sales don’t flood in, fans start hating the matured sound, and kids don’t go ape shit at shows anymore (though I don’t see any of that happening!), I’ll walk the plank with you, Set Your Goals.
--Jayme Barkdoll
Comments
Minnesota
Find me EVERYWHERE:
Tuscaloosa, AL
Cleveland, OH
Scene Point Blank / Escapist Records
Fort Bragg, CA
Tuscaloosa, AL
irvine, CA
by far, my favorite album of the year so far.
VT
My Top Songs of '09
The Appleseed Cast//as the little things go
Caspian//sycamore
Sunwrae//Chinook Winds
Dredg//down to the seller
If These Trees Could Talk//the sun is in the north
From Monument to Masses//an ounce of prevention
Straylight Run//i'm through with the past
LpShinobi's Post-Rock and Shoegazing Recommendation, via YouTube
Lpshinobi's Post-Rock Band, New Song Posted
Deptford, NJ
billpyle.com | Divine.
Want to make free money?
Cleveland, OH
You need to listen to better hardcore then...
Scene Point Blank / Escapist Records
Colorado
Columbia, MO
PA
That's how I felt too...sounded like a more hardcore blink 182. Hahaha. I enjoyed some parts though.
Music Blog.
Depths blog. (my band)