MELISMAreviews
set your goals
THE ROXY, BOSTON - MARCH 10, 2007 by BOBBY WESTFALL
Knowing that Set Your Goals’ last appearance in Boston was in the opening slot on a Less Than Jake and Catch 22 fall tour stop at the Avalon, I was pretty much convinced that the only opportunity I would have to see them in the near future would be opening for Anti-Flag, Alexisonfire and Big D and the Kids Table. Honestly, considering the infectious nature of Set Your Goals’ hardcore/pop punk crossover sound, it’s not surprising that they would be bringing their Gorilla Biscuits meets Saves the Day sound to a wider audience, but it still irks me to see them leave the hardcore scene behind so soon after they came out of nowhere with their excellent 2004 demo. The set consisted entirely of songs from their first full length, Mutiny, completely ignoring the band’s excellent Reset EP. Though the dance floor was packed, the uninterested crowd, with the exception of a few kids running into each other in a haphazard attempt at moshing, made it quite clear that they were waiting for the later bands. The presence of a barrier and a bunch of beefy security guys in front of the stage managed to drain from the set what little energy was left. Rather than playing one of their usual Gorilla Biscuits or Jawbreaker covers, SYG pandered to the pop-punk/ third wave ska crowd with an uninspired cover of Operation Ivy’s “Jaded” that still failed to evoke even a slight increase in participation from the crowd. The
band’s two singers would, however, visibly light up on rare occasions when a fan from the band’s hardcore days could be seen singing along or crowd surfing, though the barrier still limited interaction between the band and those fans who wanted to see them. They closed with the fittingly ironic “To Be Continued…” Set Your Goals’ rise to the top of the mainstream punk world will certainly continue, but it seems the chapter of their story where they mattered to me is now closed. I’ll keep listening to their records, but no matter how many Trial sweatshirts they wear in their music videos, I’m afraid they’ve said goodbye to hardcore. On “We Do It For The Money, OBVIOUSLY!” from Mutiny, Set Your Goals sing, “We’re all sellouts in your eyes/All these accusations hurt/If we share the same stage, why do you act this way?” But they don’t share the stage with any of those bands that would have criticized them before. Through Big D’s set, I entertained a faint hope that the SYG guys would be hanging out with kids at their merch table. I walked over to check once before leaving after Big D to find that I had, indeed, hoped in vain. Well, maybe they can follow in the footsteps of Civ, who released the album that gave SYG their name, and have a song featured in a car commercial.
half-cocked 40
The grey hair and age rings around my eyes make all the flags I fly much easier to believe. Still, when it comes right down to it, I surf eBay, just like everyone else - though I have yet to get my grubby paws on any of the vintage shirts I missed the first time through: Christie Front Drive, Crimpshrine, Stricken for Catherine, Rodan. Let’s talk about Rodan for a sec. A great many of us aging hipster-types used to genuflect in front of the altar of mid-to-late-Nineties Louisville. Since the Slint reunion shows a few years back, nary a peep – back into the oblivion of every record ever recorded being readily available for download, two listens and an “It’s okay, I guess.” Like secrets, we need study right now. The angular post-whatever nautical rock used to rule the school – hundreds of us trying to lurch our heads in 15/4 time to SHARKS AND SAILORS! SHARKS AND SAILORS! SHARKS AND sailors! Gone just as quickly as it started, seemingly blown out to sea by a gale of bleepy post-jazz or grubby kids screeching in a basement Mr. Microphone, something. I don’t know. But I miss it. Hell, nowhere to be found, even on eBay, any of it – June of 44, Crain, even Hoover and the 1.6 Band, stretches both, gone without a trace. Imagine my relief when I discovered Half-Cocked had arrived in DVD format, with the oft-rumored Radiation attached! Whooo! Crates of hand-screened 7-inch singles exhumed and blasted in celebration! Here’s how it went: Michael Hawley and Suki Golinsky, these two kids in an indie rock band, decided they’d try and make a film about…..being in a band. Kinda, anyway: the musical group in question can’t play. We’re not talking about Darby’s first gig here – Rhonda, played by Tara Jane O’Neill, is hit by
SHARKS AND SAILORS! by MICHAEL T. FOURNIER
her brother, played with great aplomb by none other than Ian Svenonious, the legendary Spiv of Nation of Ulysses and The Make*Up. Spiv’s in this band called the Guilloteens, see, and Rhonda and their friends bumrush the stage (yo!) and mess up the encore (be careful with that trampoline – my mom got me that for Christmas!). Rhonda then steals the van full of the Guilloteens’ gear, picks up her friends, and they drive all night, only to find themselves in Chattanooga with a stolen vehicle and a bunch of musical instruments. What to do? Book some shows! I worried that Half-Cocked was going to be one of those films that only looks good in the light of nostalgia – I was into my Louisville pretty hard when I bought a VHS copy of the film in 1996, after all. I’m happy to report that the movie is still as charming and inviting as it was the first time around. Little to none of that charm is due to the all-star Louisville-and-friends ensemble. I’m pretty sure that I’d be a huge fan of the film even if pretty much all the members of the drool-worthy, probably-mentioned-too-many-times-already Rodan weren’t integral cast members. And have I mentioned that members of Rodan are prominently featured? They went on to be in June of 44, Shipping News, Retsin, Sonora Pine and Rachel’s, if you’re keeping score. As if that weren’t enough, Radiation features members of Come in the story of a flaky Italian booking agent. It’s a hell of a package from the couple that went on to make a highly-regarded film about the fracas surrounding Fortunate Son, the ill-fated GWB book. If I weren’t grinning so hard you probably wouldn’t be able to count the rings so easily. Ah well. It’s worth it. SHARKS AND SAILORS!
