Set Your Goals

Set your goals is a pop punk hardcore band from Orinda California. They were formed in 2004 with Israel Branson as guitarist, Mike Quirk on bass, Michael Ambrose on drums, Matt Wilson and Jordan Brown as vocalist. Their first release was a 5 song E.P in 2004. This was self released, afterwards Straight On! records signed them and recorded their set your goals demo. They then proceeded to support this release with relentless touring for a year. They then got their break, Eulogy records signed them on for a two album record deal. Both those records were released in 2006, they are Mutiny! and Reset. They have yet to release an album due to extensive touring, but they are due to release a full length record on Epitaph Records. I myself am really stoked for this CD t o be released, Set Your Goals is one of the only bands to master the mix of pop and hardcore. I enjoy there music very much my favourite track would have to be Goonies Never Say Die of the album Reset. I get to see them live on April 27th and I am VERY excited. I will most definitely have a post about that show so keep looking.

You can listen to a few of there tracks on this website : http://www.musicme.com/#/Set-Your-Goals/albums/Mutiny-!-7277019907320.html

Throwdown

Throwdown is probably the first actual hardcore band I listened to. Before I even knew what real hardcore was. They are one of the only bands to respect their roots and origins but still be pretty popular in the ``mainstream`` of the hardcore scene. They are respected among everyone in the scene. Weather it be the 30 year olds who have been around for years or that 14 year old that’s at his first show. They are from Orange county Florida. They are a straight edge band they have been together since 1997. Which is a long time considering the popularity of this style of music. I have a lot of respect for this band. I enjoy how in your face their music is. I have liked this band for a long time now and have not gotten sick of them to date. (For me that is really good, considering I change my play list every month.) Their live performance is really lively. I saw them in Hamilton and they really set it off. Everyone was having a great time, the crowd helped with the vocals for basically every song and you could see they enjoyed that. I talked to the drummer after their set and he was a really nice dude. I was surprised how down to earth they were, considering their tough appearance.

A Day to Remember`s Homesick

A day to remember is a 5-piece band out of Ocala Florida. They started in 2003 and have since released 1 E.P and 3 full length albums. Their latest being Homesick. I was really disappointed in this album, it was not what I was expecting it to be. They did not change at all from their last album for those who have heart, it was very similar. They did one thing well though, just like in the previous album, they started it with a ``popier`` song but in this case two ``popier`` songs. These 2 songs get people stoked then it makes the rest of the album sound less bad to your ears. They are not staying true to their routs at all in my opinion, I find they are just playing what a bunch of 12 year old girls want to hear so they can make a quick buck. I guess everyone always has to make money. But they couldn’t even follow the trends right, they jump from a really heavy breakdown to a soft poppy part without any transition. It’s just like whoa! Where did that come from? In the song `I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What are you Made of? ` They clearly rip off the famous throat clearing from Norma Jean’s `Memphis will be Laid to Waste`. All in all I did not enjoy this album and was really hoping for something better.