 | Tracklist:
1. Cure For Apathy
2. Start The Reactor
3. Certain
4. Happy New Year
5. London Heathrow
6. Trenches
7. The Last American Virgin
8. Exit Summer
9. Unconditional
10. Product Of The 80’s
11. Raphael
12. Illuminated Youth
13. Not As Bad Calaveras
Release Date: 06/27/2011 | |
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On 8 Lists
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| Summary: Do you like pop-punk without the catchiness? Me neither. |
7 of 8 thought this review was well written
Set Your Goals has always been one of those bands that has been hard to hate; catchy pop punk is always hard to frown upon, and Set Your Goals always took it one step further with uplifting, motivating lyrics and enthusiastic vocals, making them a fail-safe fun listen. The band has been slightly evolving ever since their first EP, but they’ve always been successful on delivering on the feel-good factor, delivering lots of good times and energy. But with their third full-length, Burning At Both Ends, Set Your Goals seem to be hitting a rough patch, where the band sounds tired for the first time in their career. How does the band’s third full-length fail to deliver?
In a nutshell, Burning At Both Ends suffers from the ever tragic “every-song-sounds-the-same” syndrome. It seems like the band is going through the motions, offering simple, straight-forward progressions without any exciting, worthwhile parts. What element it is sorely missing, however, is the lack of any catchy chorus. I mean, literally, there’s none to be found. “Cure For Apathy” gets the ball rolling, and we’re treated to a fairly average riff followed by a fairly average chorus. Nothing really switches up and no momentum really builds until the very end, but then the song ends abruptly. “Start the Reactor” follows up with some nonchalant riffs and another average chorus, and the whole thing doesn’t really exceed expectations, but it doesn’t really offer up anything offensive enough to hate.
And, well, really, the album just sleepwalks from there. While Mutiny! possessed a copious amount of energy and had some gigantic riffs and sing-a-longs, and This Will Be The Death Of Us had a hardcore-tinge and use of guest vocalists, Burning At Both Ends just shows up, says “here it is”, and leaves. It’s the same tempos, same streamlined riffs, same boring choruses and relatively same run-times for what seems like forever. It’s not until when “Exit Summer” pops up that some energy is to be found: at a slightly faster pace, the song succeeds in creating some enthusiasm, but the song still, frustratingly enough, boasts another painfully average chorus.
From there, there’s very little to no standouts to mention. “Product of the 80s” generates some interest initially because of its slower tempo, but it’s yet another terrible chorus. “Illuminated Youth” has a great shouting part near the end of its mid-section, but it is short lived and is never built upon. Finally, closer “Not As Bad” is the exact same as every song on here, except after 10 minutes of silence, we’re treated to a goofy hidden song, featuring meowing, barking and belching. Sadly enough, it’s the only time on Burning At Both Ends that we get a glimpse of the band’s personality, and it’s probably the only time during the whole album that the band delivered something that was unexpected.
Burning At Both Ends seems to be sort of a tongue-in-cheek signalling to the fans that, yes, we’re burnt out, so this album is going to be tired, uninspired and bland. Featuring very little to no memorable parts, Burning At Both Ends is painfully average, so much so that it’s frustrating that a band that had absolutely no trouble finding enthusiasm in the past takes a complete whiff here. Not one of the worst releases of the year so far, but easily one of the most disappointing.
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| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
Album Rating: 2
Hey boys and girls, I haven't written a review in a while because I've been busy at my new job. SOOOOO I'm downgrading myself to reviewing "once in a while" when I find the motivation/time.
Not like anyone will be heartbroken, just saying is all. I'm also having a tough time finding a lot of stuff to write about in the first half of 2011. Not a lot of standouts for me yet. Hopefully the last half has some gems!
But yeah, this album stinks.
Digging: Sharks - No Gods Digging: Sharks - No Gods | | |
It seems like there is an awful lot of un catchy pop-punk lately.
Digging: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - Pamyu Pamyu Revolution Digging: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - Pamyu Pamyu Revolution
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I think this is catchy. Counterpoint on the way.
| | | Album Rating: 2
No, this does suck. Good review, David.
Digging: Candlemass - Psalms For The Dead Digging: Candlemass - Psalms For The Dead | | |
Such a disappointment after their last album, which was great
Digging: Stumbleine - Drifting Youth Digging: Stumbleine - Drifting Youth
| | | Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off
It's catchy, but definitely a huge let down
Digging: Raindance - New Blood Digging: Raindance - New Blood | | |
Sad, these guys were one of the better bands of their type.
Digging: The Grateful Dead - Terrapin Station Digging: The Grateful Dead - Terrapin Station
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Solid review; will pos.
Digging: My Bloody Valentine - Loveless Digging: My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
| | | Album Rating: 4
Knott, I'm with you. Album is definitely their worst, but still not a bad album.
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Won't listen.
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How the fuck can you think this is not catchy?
| | | Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off
It's funny that they said this was going to be in the style of Mutiny. Bands should just learn to never make claims like that.
It's really a pretty lame album. None of the lyrics mean anything. That's what sucks about it.
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But it's so fucking energetic and catchy and the production is awesome.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off
I don't dislike it, but there are so many better 2011 albums to be listening to atm.
edit: ironically, I am listening to it right now
| | | Album Rating: 4
i've listen to the album about 10 times and each time i can only pick out like 4 songs that i truly enjoy and can sing a long with, something is up with this album, and i cant truly say i love it like the last two albums.
Digging: Ellie Goulding - Lights | | |
It's not really a 4 then, around here a 4 means you pretty much think it rules.
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hmm.. im going to go give this a listen.. SYG has always been one of my favorites, hopefully i can enjoy this at least close to as much as Mutiny or This Will Be The Death Of Us.
| | | Album Rating: 2
This sucks. The only catchy song is Certain, but the vocals themselves are cringe worthy.
| | | Album Rating: 4
This album took a long time to grow on me. It's definitely a more hit-or-miss album
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I'm liking this the more I listen to this as well. Certain is catchy as fuck.
Digging: Gorilla Biscuits - Start Today | | | |
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