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Label: Razor & Tie - Rating:
The power-pop group from Arizona kick it off with their first album Love Like This. Right off the bat you get a feel that the band just graduated from high school and transcribed all their experiences into this album. The songs cover a lot about love and girls and anything you'd expect from any pop rock band. Although they didn't score much points for originality the music is really solid and well-played. You can find yourself listening to these catchy tunes reminiscing of high school days and for those high-schoolers these subjects sung here will be all too familiar.
One thing that really makes this album unique is the use of synthesizes and trance-like beats in such songs such as 'Chelsea.' Even subtle use of the synths make a huge difference in the songs' overall tone in songs like 'Punch-Drunk Love.' It just gives it that extra something and makes the music more interesting. I really think that the band could have taken more of a risk and added more electronic synthesized sounds into mix. It's a good start and a solid effort by The Summer Set at trying to make themselves stand out.
The majority of the songs are very catchy and many parts feel very sugar-coated, especially the guitars. This isn't a bad thing necessarily, it's all a matter of whether you like the upbeat feel of the music. Much like that, not everyone is going to be a fan of the young sounding vocals, but anyone who does enjoy that will definitely want to listen to this album.
The lyrics are very well crafted into making nice melodies that are somewhat memorable but are just catchy enough to stick into your head. What's impressive is that the lyrics aren't as naive as one would expect from a young pop rock band like this. Although it does have its moments: “I heard you’re talking shit again / I’m gonna sleep with all your friends” and “I've waited all my life for a bitch like this.”
This is definitely a good start for the The Summer Set, they have good potential and could be something truly memorable if they continue to experiment with their sound. Hopefully as the band matures, so will the music. The high-school-themed music is enjoyable and despite a few faults here and there it's a very solid album, I definitely recommend hearing them out!
Like The Summer Set? Check out: The Cab, The Maine
