Review Summary: Set It Off go for something new, to middling results
Duality, in retrospect, was a sign of things to come. Set It Off’s sophomore full-length was a solid release, but its pop-leaning sensibilities proved to be its biggest strength and weakness at the same time, with its biggest and best tracks standing out solely because the rest of the album was utterly forgettable. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, because I still do love it, and consider many of its tracks to be some of my favorites. But, looking back, songs like “Why Worry” should’ve been seen as a warning sign.
I say all of this to say that, despite my love for this album as well,
Upside Down is probably in contention for the worst Set It Off album yet. The Florida-based band move squarely into the realm of pop rock, emphasis on the pop, and while it works in some places, they’re few and far between.
Most of the album commits the cardinal sin of being completely unmemorable. Vocalist Cody Carson is in fine form as per usual, but the rest of the band lags behind, with guitars and bass being abandoned in many songs for trumpet calls and sanitized pop riffs. With one single exception, most of the songs are completely divorced from Set It Off’s previous bitterness and venom heard on “The Haunting”, “Swan Song”, and “I’d Rather Drown” from albums past. Instead, we get “Want” and “Tug of War”, which try to go for a more melancholic vibe, but succeed in little more than sounding like Top 40 fodder.
Similar complaints can be thrown at most of the album, like the saccharine title track that contains some of Cody’s worst lyrics to date, which
try to espouse looking on the bright side, but choose the worst scenarios possible to illustrate the point, complete with a cheesy chorus that would make most professional pop artists roll their eyes. “Never Know” fares slightly better, but it’s boy band, Disney-style chorus kills its momentum.
And that’s not even getting into the sappy love songs. “Diamond Girl” and “Me w/o Us” (yes, that’s actually how the song title is spelled) have the unfortunate title of some of Set It Off’s worst songs to date. The former relies on tired and overused tropes for its lyrics, sounding like the worst aspects of “Locked Out of Heaven”-era Bruno Mars and Maroon 5, while the latter tries to end the album on a mellow note, but accomplishes little outside of putting its listeners to sleep.
Luckily, the album does have a few saving graces. The production is pretty damn good, and sounds fittingly big for the bombastic pop the band are trying to go for. That production serves tracks like “Uncontainable” well, which sounds like it was ripped straight from the better songs off
Duality. “Something New” is a super fun opener, and “Life Afraid,” despite being a sanitized sequel to “Why Worry”, succeeds in being an enjoyable empowerment anthem about living life with no worries.
“Crutch” is probably the band’s best argument for their pop direction. Despite lacking riffs, or really any noticeable guitar, it’s more melancholic sound actually works this time around, helped by Cody’s understated vocal performance. It’s a shockingly good track, especially for being the penultimate one (although it being directly followed by “Me w/o Us” probably helps it sound better by comparison).
And then there’s “Hypnotized”.
This is the Set It Off that I remember. Cody’s raps here may be a bit cheesy, but I can’t help but love the classic way he snarls each word, condemning his former lover for their manipulative tactics. It’s still driven by pianos and keys as opposed to guitar, but lyrically and vocally, this is Set It Off doing what they do best: being bitter and unbelievably entertaining in the process.
Despite a few bright spots,
Upside Down is the absolute nadir of Set It Off’s discography, a sanitized pop rock album that discards a lot of Set It Off’s previous identity in favor of chasing airplay. Its attempts at being optimistic and empowering often fall short, and its love songs manage to be little more than unbearably cheesy. As far as Set It Off’s pop efforts go, you could pick literally either one of the following albums and have a much better listening experience. Better luck next time, boys.
