November Gentlemen! Songs Of The Day!

The sweet smells of chi lattes and chocolate peanut butter pies are all things that come to mind when I hear the sweet soundings of November Gentlemen, not to mention dashing good looks. November Gentlemen, Kevin Merrill’s stage name, has just released two new songs entitled, “Being A Gentleman…” and “I Can’t Bring Myself To Believing” on his myspace. Merrill may not be going by this birth name anymore, but we can certainly tell he has not lost his touch. Not only do these two songs contain the elements in November Gentlemen that we love such as great acoustic guitar playing and a raspy voice that boarders on pretty without being too over the top, but Merrill’s playing and music abilities have gotten better. The recording in both of these songs is crisp and clean. I enjoyed the very soothing guitar melodies on “Being A Gentleman…”, along with the lyrical content. The drumming and organ playing on “I Can’t Bring Myself To Believing” are a great a accompaniment and give the song a more light hearted feeling. Over all both of these songs are great, and I can not pick with one I like better. Hats off to you, November Gentlemen.

You can check out November Gentlemen by following this link: http://www.myspace.com/novembergentlemen

Album Review: Mutiny! by Set Your Goals

There are just some albums where every time I listen to them I get a new appreciation for the fine craftsmanship at hand, or in this case ear. In the masses of “everything sounds the same” music, Set Your Goals have managed to break free from the pack and create Mutiny! . This band from the city by the bay consists of Matt Wilson and Jordan Brown on vocals, Audelio Flores and Daniel Coddaire on guitar, Josheph Saucedo on bass, and lastly Michael Ambrose on drums. Set Your Goals released the EP Reset in 2006. Over the past couple of years the band has been growing in popularity while touring along side well established names as Anti-Flag and New Found Glory as well as playing the Vans Warped Tour.

Mutiny! Starts off with the song “Work in Progress”, which I think is a great, ear catching set off for the album. This tune show cases Set Your Goal’s talent for delivering songs that do not define themselves to one genre. The lyrics are up lifting and talk about how everything you start in life does not have to have a definite finish or end. One of my favorite parts of the song is the bass line that mimics the vocals.

“We do it for the Money OBVIOUSLY!” is basically a 53 second rant against bands calling each other out about selling out. Not much can be said about this song because it’s so short. I like the constant fastness to it and how it is so in your face.

The next track on this album makes me want to ride the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney every time I hear it. I know nothing about drums but I really love the beat on “Dead Men Tell No Tales”.

The transition, or lack there of, between “Dead Men Tell No Tales” and the next song has to be one of my favorite moments on Mutiny!. Within the first three notes of this song you automatically get the urge to move your body in whatever way you fashion to the hypnotic music. “Mutiny!” is the title track to the record and the forth song on the album. The only thing I dislike about this song is the spoken word part towards the middle. The song could really do without it but at the same time it’s not a deal breaker.

"This Song is definitely not About a Girl” is the fifth song on the album. Lyrically the song is confusing, all we know is it is definitely not about a girl…or is it? I love the bass line on this song. I also really like the contrast between the faster parts and the slower, more singing parts.

“An Old Book Misread” is the next song. The lyrically content is controversial, expressing the band’s opinions on religious matters. Aside from agreeing or disagreeing with the subject matter, I think this song tends to sound too much like “Mutiny!”.

Next is my favorite Set Your Goals song “This Very Moment”. I love this track because I relate to it. The lyrics touch personally on my own experiences. This song is a great example, for me, why I love music so much. I can hear some one else’s lyrics and relate to them and it lets me know that somewhere someone else relates to me. I think that is the universal meaning behind music. Another one of my favorite moments on this album happens in this song with the bass drop in the middle. You better have some good speakers to get the full effect.

I like “The Flight of the Navigator” but I think it sounds too much like previous on this record. After listening to the album a couple of times I started to get a new appreciation for it, but it does not stand out at first.

“To be Continued…” is my second favorite. What makes this song so great is the combination of lyrics, instrumentals and energy. The beginning starts out pretty and slow while Brown and Wilson switch back and forth singing lines then everything else comes in with this burst.

Set Your Goal’s has a way with writing up lifting songs. This is true on the tenth song “Don’t Let this Win Over You”. Its lyrics stress to the listener that you can not always let every single thing get to you and stress you out, some things you can not control. I think everyone can relate to this message. Even though it is only one minute long exactly, I always think this song and the last song are just one big work.

Finally, “Echoes” rounds off the record. I think this song can easily be forgotten. I think the placing is why it kind of fades into the background. I love that this is probably the slowest song on the album (as slow as you can get with Set Your Goals). Ending the album with this song was a subtle. They did not exactly save the best for last but they did not let the album fade off either.

Set Your Goals really hit the mark with Mutiny!. The album is a great blend of punk, pop punk, and a more melodic hardcore. Every song on the album has the potential to stay stuck in your head all day long. I would recommend this record to anyone who likes to listen to albums all the way through without skipping any tracks. Set Your Goals have produced one of my favorite albums to come out in the past three years. You’ll be hardcore dancing in you living room well into the third song.

You can check out Set Your Goals by visiting thier myspace at: http://www.myspace.com/setyourgoals

Reader Request!

You spoke, and I listened. The first ever request for me to review a CD came from a myspace friend of mine named Chelsy. Upon her request I immediately searched the web to find Modest Mouse’s The Lonesome Crowded West. Coming into this experience I was very excited. I tend to find my reviews biased, because frankly I review things that I like. My main goal is all of this is to open people’s minds to something they may not be normally open to. So, when someone surprisingly asks me to review something for them, I feel a little out of my element. But I enjoy being pushed out of my comfort zone, writing wise that is.

The only song I’ve ever heard from Modest Mouse was that song they played non-stop on MTV with the really weird music video a couple of years back, you probably know the tune “Float On”. But I wikipedia-ed (yes I just made that word up) and had high expectations for a band with a guitarist from The Smiths in it.
My first initial reaction to hearing the first song was Wow this sounds nothing like that song I know them by. I really like the lyrical content of the album as a whole, even if I did have to look the lyrics up to understand what he was yelling about. The lyrics happen to be witty and are matched with eye catching titles. I felt lead singer Brock’s vocals/slurred screaming annoyed me and became redundant at times. The album really gave me the feeling of something Primuis-y for some reason. My favorite song on the album was “Jesus Christ Was an Only Child” because I enjoyed the fact that musically there was less going on in this song to trigger my A.D.D. I liked “Long Distance Drunk” for its striped down feeling also.

As a whole I mildly disliked The Lonesome Crowded West. I think it is mainly because I was expecting something completely different than what was delivered to my ears. When you have expectations, I find they easily get let down (Katie’s Life Lesson One). Another reason may simply be that, even though it is extendable, my personal music taste did not match up with this album. It was not the worst album, and maybe after a couple of listens I will change my mind, but I certainly would not run out to F.Y.E with my $20 in hand ready to buy.