Set Your Goals

Déjà vu. Nearly two years ago I was writing a review of the original release of this EP. I closed that review stating that the band could “either stay close to home and continue on as local sensations or keep pursuing their dreams and make the jump to the inevitable stardom that is within their grasp.” They opted for the later - good choice. And as a result Reset is going to place them on that catapult to stardom and their debut full-length, Mutiny!, which is due out this Summer on Eulogy, is going to launch them to heights they never could've dreamed of.

For those who didn't catch them the first time around, Set Your Goals play upbeat melodic hardcore/pop-punk music that makes for excellent car/bedroom/wherever sing-alongs and exciting shows as well as providing the perfect soundtrack for every day - as everyday you listen to Set Your Goals is a perfect day. Whether it is the more hardcore oriented “How ‘bout No, Scott?” or the pop-punk minded “Goonies Never Say Die!” and “Latch Key,” Set Your Goals deliver the goods. That's what makes this EP so good; there is something for everyone. Whether you're an old-timer that craves new music in the vein of Lifetime and Gorilla Biscuits or the new-school kid that digs New Found Glory and Fall Out Boy, the music of Set Your Goals hits the spot.

One of the bonuses to this re-release is a cover of Jawbreaker's “Do You Still Hate Me?” This song is a perfect choice for Set Your Goals - the trade-off vocals work extremely well and it's obvious by their sound they've taken a lot of influence from the band. What's that? You've never heard Jawbreaker before? Don't tell anyone that you don't own Dear You and 24 Hour Revenge Therapy. Get off your ass and head down to your local record store and buy buy buy. Also tacked on to this release is a good amount of multimedia footage, which is a nice addition. It definitely shows you that the members of Set Your Goals enjoy being in this band as much as we enjoy listening to them.

You would think after two years that I would have tired of hearing these songs. But you are very wrong; Reset is just as fresh and enjoyable to listen to as it was the first time it graced by ears. And that says a lot, because staying power is something that gets tossed aside these days. People tend to geek out on something only to forget about it three months later. Even if the hoopla surrounding Set Your Goals comes and goes, I'll still be here singing along.
8.5 / 10
- Michael Phillips

Nostalgia could quite possibly be the most addictive thing known to man. We all crave it at some point, a lot of us overdose on it, and more often than we’d like to admit, we just can’t live without it. Whether you’re an old bachelor and reminiscing over that night when you got completely wasted and boned the prom queen or you’re like a lot of older college kids and simply miss the antics of high school, we’ve all got our own forms of nostalgia to dope up on. Well, nothing can set us off into our memory-laced highs more than hearing the soundtracks that backed the events. From Saves the Day to Good Riddance to Counting Crows, we all have an album that can instantly bring us back to the times when our lives seemed so much easier, care-free, and ultimately more fun. Well, who says those times have to die? Why isn’t there music coming out today that makes us want to be completely irresponsible, stay up way past what any “normal” person would, and live like our friends are the only things that matter in this world? Well, though it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a band that’s making music like this, there is most certainly one band that has made it their goal to be the soundtrack to your new memories.

Recent Eulogy Recordings signees, Set Your Goals, are hell-bent on making music fun again – plain and simple. So put up your fucking Kleenex, stop plotting a school shooting, quit worrying about your bills, and get off your ass and find your friends, because this San Francisco six-piece has released one of the most promising debut EPs in a very long time. Reset is a six song, twelve and a half minute jolt of melodic hardcore that doesn’t have much in the way of negative qualities other than the fact that it is so damned short. To knock this band on creativity is to miss the band’s purpose all together, because they aren’t here to change the music scene or use a hundred different instruments on one song just to sound inventive. Instead, Set Your Goals focuses more on making music like the bands that “got them stoked on music” in the first place (taken from their bio on Eulogy’s website). In fact, the simplicity of Reset is what makes it such a great EP, because everything about it hearkens back to an era of music and life in which there wasn’t quite as much pressure to be the biggest, best and most creative thing ever.

At the forefront of Reset are the dueling voices of Jordan Brown and Matt Wilson, which, despite their opposing vocal natures, intertwine to craft a unique and enjoyable product. From the more traditional hardcore styled vocals of Brown to the slightly nasally, Chris Conley-esque vocals of Wilson, each line is delivered with intensity and enjoyment. The best example of this is given in “Goonies Never Say Die”, which is by far the strongest track on the short EP. Also, another very positive thing Set Your Goals has going for them is their ability to write clever, simple lyrics that are highly reminiscent to those of bands much like Jawbreaker, (early) Saves the Day, and Lifetime. Instead of penning down poetic, semi-abstract lines about broken hearts and sunsets or some other bullshit, these guys stick to their fun-first approach in which they find themselves optimistically dealing with leaving things behind, looking forward to the future, finding their own ways through life, and enjoying the entire journey. As for the instrumentation on the album, everything is extremely solid. While we all know that this type of melodic hardcore/pop-punk is always chockfull of fast chord progressions, quick chops, high-speed drum rolls, two-steps, and breakdowns, it doesn’t mean that all of this stuff is simple, mindless musicianship. Song after song on Reset, lovers of the genre are given all of their staples done with perfect fluidity and pervading energy.

Overall, if you want an extremely fun and brilliantly performed melodic hardcore album that has been pumped full of energy and excitement, then Reset is undoubtedly going to be your new favorite EP. So kick back with your friends, get doped up on nostalgia and realize that Set Your Goals is the band you wish you would’ve had back in high school.
- Jayme Barkdoll

Rarely does a band make such a splash with their demo, but San Francisco’s Set Your Goals hits the water with a resounding impact. Reset is the Eulogy release of SYG’s demo, plus a cover of the great Jawbreaker song “Do You Still Hate Me,” and some video footage.

Set Your Goals play pop hardcore with a catchy melodic sound halfway between Gorilla Bassist’ Start Today and A New Found Glory’s Nothing Gold Can Stay. SYG take the bouncing breakdowns of of the former and the well-anchored popcore of the later and carve out a sweet sound all of their own. By far the best song is the unfortunately named ‘Goonies Never Say Die!” which starts off with a pit-thumping drum lead and and runs from melodic Saves The Day lines, to sing-a-longs, to gang vocals and back again. Lyrics a notch or two above the average HC fare, lyrics that recognize the importance of the singer’s role in the HC community like, “Talk is cheap and mine’s the worst/ I realize my actions are worth so much more,” make this worth checking out.

Although the art on the Straight On Records version is sweeter, and singers Matt Wilson and Jordan Brown can’t quite do justice to Blake Schwarzenbach on the Jawbreaker cover, this EP is terrific because it means that SYG are soon going to be the hardcore equivalent of household names. Shell out the six bucks for this now, and be properly stoked for the upcoming full length, which should, by all indications, be a melodic pop hardcore classic.
- Punkbands.com

If half of life is about making good first impressions, SET YOUR GOALS couldn't do much better than name themselves after the classic hardcore/pop-punk album from New York's CIV. The initial connection between SET YOUR GOALS and CIV makes even more sense once Reset gets rolling with its speedy, slightly nasal take on positive, personal melodic hardcore and aggressive pop-punk. Sounding a good deal like other modern bands influenced by the pace-setters, SET YOUR GOALS slide safely into the realm of bands like H20, THE MOVIELIFE, and most obviously, LIFETIME. Reset runs only six songs deep, covering a merely 13 minutes, but the four tunes ("How 'Bout No, Scott?", "Goones Never Say Die!", "Sharptooth," and "Latch Key") that make up the midsection of this disc are simply fantastic and will have you singing along effortlessly as your kept wiping away the sweat from your brow. Closing out the release (which just so happens to be a reissue from Straight On Records) is an energetic bonus cover of JAWBREAKER's "Do You Still Hate Me," and enhanced CD video footage from the band's trek across the nation in 2005. Everything about SET YOUR GOALS screams excitement and Reset will hopefully be the tasty appetizer to a big, big meal. - Jordan Baker

Preparing the world for one of San Francisco’s most original bands that preach lyrics of relating to and relevance of, Set Your Goals will be the band most talked about when their full length debut CD is released this coming summer. Picked up by Eulogy Recordings, Set Your Goals play a distinctive, straight forward sound filled with crowd-friendly sing-a-longs, furious and melodic guitar parts and a dual vocal attack that can vary from the norm to a chaotic enchantment. While in the wake of their forthcoming full length, the boys of Set Your Goals with the help of Eulogy Recordings have released the bands EP Reset with a number of bonus features. While comparisons fall between Saves The Day, Gorilla Biscuits and New Found Glory, it’s the “real life” lyrics that put Set Your Goals ahead of the rest. Tracks like “How ‘bout No, Scott?” and “Latch Key” give a viable idea of what to expect from the boys on their forthcoming album while the addition of Jawbreakers “Do You Still Hate Me?” provides an example of just how flexible these San Fran natives can become. For the suggested retail listing price of a miniscule $5.98, Reset should easily make a lot of what to buy lists as the satisfaction you’ll get out of hearing such a young band’s career sky rocket so quickly as the talent within this EP flows so freely. - Adaptmagazine.com