SYG Get By WIth A Little Help From Their Friends

Bay Area sextet Set Your Goals finally managed to release a follow up to their genre defining debut album “Mutiny” this summer. It was a long wait, but for the most part it was worth it. “This Will Be the Death of Us” is an excellent album; these guys have really nailed down the perfect hybrid of hardcore and pop punk. These San Franciscans took their favorite hardcore bands and combined them with their unabashed love for New Found Glory and the Movielife, and they have come up with a sound that is all their own. Vocalists Matt Wilson and Jordan Brown deftly trade lyrics back and forth in a way that at times feels like hip hop. “This Will Be the Death of Us” is a dangerously catchy record with a ton of sugary hooks and catchy guitar lines. These are definitely the kind of songs you hum while you’re walking to class. The album kicks off with the title track, one of the heavier songs on the album. It features an awesome guest vocal from former Movielife/current I Am the Avalanche vocalist Vinnie Caruana. Anyone who knows anything about either of Vinnie’s bands knows that his passionate voice can stop you dead in your tracks, and he manages to do so here even on another band’s album. The song is followed by a rather pointless interlude which segues into the excellent sing along “Look Closer” and the aptly named “Summer Jam”, which sounds like the perfect Warped Tour barbecue song. “Summer Jam” is also special because Wilson and Brown actually recount the band’s entire history in the song’s lyrics, which is a unique topic to tackle. The album really picks up speed in the middle. The one-two punch of “The Fallen” and “The Few That Remain” absolutely make the album what it is. “The Fallen” is the “youth anthem” song stereotypically found on hardcore albums, but Set Your Goals manage to make a stale topic sound like an absolute battle cry. “I can’t stop feeling love, for this place we both came from, may I never lose my youth and if I do may I be forgettable” Brown sings. The only thing that really hurts Set Your Goals is their high profile guests. In addition to Caruana, New Found Glory’s Chad Gilbert adds some excellent screaming and Paramore’s Hayley Williams absolutely runs away with her cameo on “the Few That Remain.” While entertaining, the guest appearances take away from the performance of the band as a whole. All told, this is an extremely impressive album. Set Your Goals are a very important band right now. In a music scene where garbage like Lady GaGa wins Best New Artist awards and Three Days Grace top the charts, Set Your Goals bring music with heart and conviction to the table. They are part of the last line of defense between music that actually moves people and music generated by pop star robots, songwriting teams and pitch correction software.