This Will Be the Ascension of Set Your Goals

It’s not often that you find your Album of the Year in July.  When Set Your Goals dropped their sophomore full-length This Will Be the Death of Us on July 21st, that is exactly what happened for me.

I first became familiar with this San Francisco Bay Area-originated sextet about a year ago when a good friend of mine recommended that I give their 2006 album, Mutiny, a listen.  He recognized that they had the hair-raising energy and heart-pumping lyrics that I routinely seek out when trying to find my new favorite record.  These characteristics only strengthen with their new summer release.

A couple of the most memorable aspects of SYG’s first full-length are the duel lead vocals and the stellar opening tracks.  Matt Wilson and Jordan Brown do an excellent job of alternating verses and keeping each song very entertaining.  As for the first four songs, they come fast and furious and leave you wanting more.  They replicate this feeling with their latest effort and possibly outdo themselves in the process.  The title track and subsequent 42 second interlude lead to my favorite song of the album, “Look Closer.”  The chorus puts into question the complacency and ignorance that society usually defaults to during everyday life:

Can we just justify the means if we’re plugged in, tuned out?
We all need to wake up because we’ve been detached for too long.
We need to deprogram from shifting with the public eye.
We have a right to question why.
See through the lies, re-sensitize, and look closer.

Gang vocals, though-provoking lyrics, and sheer passion permeate throughout the balance of this breakthrough release, which are qualities that are becoming rarer and rarer in today’s punk scene.  Other highlights of the album include their catchy hit “The Few That Remain,” featuring Hayley Williams of Paramore.  This jam has been getting regular play over at LA’s KROQ for the past few weeks and has SYG garnering some well-deserved national recognition.

The closing number, “Our Ethos: A Legacy to Pass On,” exemplifies what SYG is all about and ties the album together perfectly.  The chorus sums up what this band wants people to know about them and what they should expect to hear from them:

Traditions, our mission:
To listen, learn, and pass them on.
Our ethos, it’s all we know.
We can’t let go.
The time is now to stand, be proud.
We all are part of something more.
Our ethos, don’t let it go

A few verses in particular hit home with me more than any others on the entire record.  They are passionately sung by Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory and send chills up my spine every time I listen to them:

Been around long enough by now to know I see things differently than most.
But here, like-minded souls surround and I found a name for what I’ve always been.
So come with me if you feel what I feel.
We’ll turn these words into something real.
Follow these footsteps, come into your own.
You’ll never walk alone. We’ll never walk alone!

Gang vocals follow and SYG completes the best album, from beginning to end, that I’ve heard in a very long time.

As for the aforementioned recognition they are receiving, the band has a song from the new album, “Gaia Bleeds (Make Way For Man)” featured on the new Madden ’10 videogame.  Also, This Will Be the Death of Us reached #65 on the Billboard Top 200 last week.

Currently, SYG is on tour with Four Year Strong, who has come out with a wicked fun 90’s cover album, Explains It All. Fortunately for me, I will have the privilege of going to that show on Friday, August 21st when they visit Slim’s in San Francisco…WOOO!  For those of you who can’t make it, I’ll be doing a review of the show so stay tuned.

For the latest Set Your Goals news, tour dates, and merch, visit their website at www.myspace.com/setyourgoals

Click the album artwork below to purchase songs or the entire albums from Set Your Goals on iTunes:

Reset EP

Mutiny (Deluxe Edition)

This Will Be the Death of Us

Or, if you prefer to shop at Amazon, check out their discography in CD and MP3 format: Set Your Goals

Check out the video for Set Your Goal’s title track from This Will Be the Death of Us:

Set Your Goals – This Will Be the Death of Us

All photos, music, and videos copyright of their respective owners. Used only for promotional purposes and to gain notoriety for the artists featured.

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