Set Your Goals

Mutiny!

[4/5] With the festering mess of overproduced, substance-free pop-punk bands currently representing 80-percent of the musical landscape on MySpace, it’s almost mind-blowing that Eulogy Recordings could locate a young band like Set Your Goals. Though they make no real effort to break new ground and write some truly corny lyrics (see “An Old Book Misread”), SYG’s youthful exuberance and penchant for titanic gang choruses make Mutiny! a thoroughly refreshing pop-hardcore offering. The band combine the raw energy of Lifetime with the sugary, breakdown-laden pop punk of New Found Glory. Perhaps the most charming aspect of these Bay Area youngsters is their reckless abandon; the vocals occasionally don’t quite land on the right note and the drumming isn’t completely airtight. Believe it or not, all these “shortcomings” make the record more honest and enjoyable. Who said you needed an extravagant Pro Tools rig to make a great pop-punk record? (EULOGY) Kevin Wade