The best thing about Set It Off has long been their inhuman ability to tickle upon the walls of cringe without being fatally afflicted by it. It’s the most standout thing about them, anyway; their songs aren’t especially well-written or produced, or have a sound of their own post-Cinematics in 2012. But being able to craft earworms from some of pop-rock’s least-dignified traits? That’s served them well all the way up to Elsewhere in 2022, and was arguably the only reason that album worked to the extent it did. The reliance is on implicit, acceptable disposability, aware of how precarious the balance is but willing to roll with it all the same.
So, ladies, gentlemen and everything in between, presenting this—the smouldering wreckage of a band toppled after their load-bearing toothpick has been kicked out from underneath them. All it took was a jump over to alt-metal, a style that’s far less versatile in sound and forgiveness level for its performers humiliating themselves, which kinda flies in the face of everything this band has built for themselves. Even Upside Down—pilloried at the time for an obvious sellout (how quaint…)—was within the realms of naturalised Set It Off fare. By comparison, this, from its opening moments, exhibits some colossal Falling In Reverse energy, meant as derogatorily as possible.
That first song is Pathological, where we start as we mean to go on. That is to say, we start badly. Mercifully, Cody Carson’s Jokerfied rapping isn’t too prevalent across the album, but the attitudes therein sure are! Here’s a bounty of songs about fake people, how Carson is superior to said fake people, but also how he’s still susceptible to those fake people (who he’s so obviously above, remember?). Just because it’s not coming from the mouth of Ronnie Radke doesn’t make it any less lame. If anything, with as close to replicating that baseline as Carson wants to get (minus the “are you triggered?” whinging, thank Christ), it might be even worse. There’s no other reason that Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing from 11 years ago is here other than to fit form, when it already hasn’t aged well—experience the ick of hearing “whore” used as an insult that’s only ballooned multiple times over since 2014—but is easy enough to tinker with to and graft on some extra ‘edginess’. Really makes you wonder how deep any genuine sentiment runs when that’s where we’re at.
Of course, that’s strictly rhetorical when there isn’t a single original idea, emotion or execution thereof on this whole album. Hell, Rotten’s chorus melody is functionally identical to a literal million other pieces of ‘angsty’ alt-metal styrofoam. Zoom out from that particular instance and there’s not much more to talk about. This is a bandwagon that Set It Off have leapt on and strapped themselves down to, lest they deviate from type by even a hair. All the usual ephemera is here—the same monochrome palette; the same dishwater-dull pace; the same dearth of imagination; and the same tacit belief that this is all so transgressive and new. In reality, you can’t make a case for this being anything other than a trend-chase by a band who, prior to this, had next to no stake in this sound whatsoever. The about-face turn into alt-metal that Set It Off make exposes itself when literally any chancer over the last decade could’ve made this.
And that’s the real crux of why Set It Off’s self-titled album sucks as hard and often as it does. From a certain point of view, a bad album from these guys isn’t anything remarkable. As a band stuck in an era of plastic-encased pop-rock filled with iffy lyrics and crooked framing, you could make the argument that they’ve been bad for a long time. But more often than not, a bit of character could rescue near enough everything from the jaws of disaster. A song like Why Do I is clingy and sounds atrociously cheap, but bloody hell, does it own every bit of that! Even with no nutritional value, it could fill a hole. This album, on the other hand, can’t even reach the dubious standards of processed meat loaded with additives. Instead, it’s offal churned from the grinder and slapped down to serve, a homogenous plate of gristle whose chewy tastelessness is the entire point. For as pat as the madcap circus / Panic! At The Disco mould of Creating Monsters is as a shorthand for madness and insanity, it’s the solitary moment on the album that isn’t embarrassed of where it came from.
It’s a strange conclusion to draw when, otherwise, you’d have every right to feel that embarrassment. Set It Off are corny and hacky, without a lot that they’re truly good at. But when they’ve made that their own so often, the charm comes out on its own. Going in the opposite direction, however, just proves humiliating without the silver lining. Trying to take on all comers leaves Set It Off falling on their faces time and time again, unaware that simply presenting as a bruiser doesn’t make it so. Nor does hitching yourself to warmed-over radio-metal backwash that everyone but the most masochistic of zealots is thoroughly sick of by now. And after all that…then what? There’s no advancement to be made on this, and turning tail back to pop-rock screams of insincerity that even Set It Off couldn’t weather. This could legitimately be a career-killer, and for this band, that says a lot.
For fans of: Falling In Reverse, Get Scared, TX2
‘Set It Off’ by Set It Off is released on 7th November.
Words by Luke Nuttall
“how can I make this review as negative as possible” get a couple brain cells back in your brain
Yeah, this sounds about right. Even with the few songs Ive listened to on this album that Ive liked, SIO this time around definitely feels like their “trying way too hard”, trying to compensate in some way or another ever since they left their label a couple years ago, free from the shackles to try and do their own thing, and in turn I feel like they have a long way to go. As a fan who has been on and off on them over the years, I’m glad this review parses out how Ive been feeling with the band’s writing in recent years, or hell even generally speaking. Like yeah, they can be corny and hacky, but they really branded themselves that way unabashedly and ran with it for years, and to that extent, I respect that- I still listen to a lot of their older songs to this day. But I feel this direction could’ve been handled a lot better if there was more of a self awareness to it, which I feel is clearer more than ever that SIO’s writing is still very much lacking in that department beyond being up their own asses a majority of the time.
As a casual fan, this was an ok album.
This is just the guys having fun with it now that their not restrained to their label anymore, with the band claiming they’ve been wanting to sound like this for quite sometime now. Which y’know I’m glad to hear they have more creative control in what they do, but I do feel in them doing so they got lazy in a way. I get them wanting to make all of their songs here have the spotlight, which is why this is a singles album as opposed to having an album with exclusive tracks because they end up falling to the wayside for the most part and all, but I don’t know. Knowing what we have, I’m not at all interested in the final product, as concise as it is in wanting to get to the point, there is no surprises to be have and the creativity they’ve set for this new sound is only limited to what has been already been released. Even then its somewhat jarring in that aspect, taking that hard shift into metal, which I will also agree that it feels like their trying way too hard this go around to be taken seriously.
That’s kinda been my problem with them honestly, their genuine attempts feel misplaced at best, and scattered brained and clueless at worst. Not necessarily afraid of being themselves, but that clear desire in wanting to be something more than they are is admirable but not ideal for them in the long run. Not saying they should stick to their lane, but they’re probably biting off more than they can chew.
Also glad I’m not the only who feels similarly to the writing of the band. Cody can write some good songs, but admittedly his writing has always had that sort of mentality to em that was mentioned here that I feel could be a lot better if he allowed himself to be more open in some way, instead of being on the offensive all the time with his perspective which in turn makes the writing very limited. Pathological is literally about their ex-bassist Austin and it’s been freaking years since they kicked him out- Why care so much about this, especially now? Because he’s crying for help and his career is spiralling so you felt the need to write and make fun about it? Who cares about Austin, we don’t need to clap back at his poor and stupid attempts at coming back, he’s already made a hole for himself. And the remake of Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing just kinda adds into this pattern I’ve noticed when it comes to the writing.
The writing is so thin skinned, and I think that sort of tone-deafness and lack of depth is why I’ve been more inclined to listen to em for the most part despite my enjoyment with their music. They want to be big, powerful and be on the moral high ground in their songs, and I can get behind that self-empowerment with the likes of Punching Bag, but they just don’t have that kind of writing ability or evidence to back up their claims after doing so. And even with evidence to back em up, it honestly comes off as childish and I gotta ask what’s the point?
I feel that nuance, maturity and introspection could make their music so much more interesting beyond the loud theatrics and deepen their theming they’ve kept in all of their discography. But if that’s not what they’re aiming for, it’s a damn shame, but that’s just me.
People keep saying Set it Off has never been serious, but honestly their motivation to make it big over the years tell me otherwise.