Album Review: Set It Off - Calm Before The Storm

Clearwater, Florida's Set It Off origins' lay in lead singer Cody Carson perforimg All Time Low covers on Youtube; this led to Carson joining the band on stage last summer.

Since then Carson has formed Set It Off (inspired by Fall Out Boy's 'Calm Before The Storm') along with Austin Kerr (Bass), Benji Panic (Drums), Dan Clermont (Keyboards), Zach Something (Guitar) and Carson on guitar and vocal duty.

It's no surprise from the band's origins that their second EP, coincidently entitled 'Calm Before The Storm' is 6 slices of fun-filled US Pop-Punk. 'Introduction to Outselling a Salesman' is a catchy synth-led number, whilst '143' is guitar-driven which is helped along with a mixture of vocal melodies.

'Houston We're Going Down' starts off with a simple guitar before leading in a simple riff and beat and is one of the more forgetable songs. Unlike 'Text Me, Kelly' is a fun track with impressive vocals from Carson and witty lyrics.

The record ends with an acoustic number 'I Promise', as expected from the title it's a passionate acoustic ballad with the usual story of a young male with a broken heart. The song structure is reminiscent of All Time Low's 'Remembering Sunday'; it leads to a full band sing-a-long.

Set It Off show a lot of promise. They have the songs, the musicianship and some might say they have 'the look'. However unfortunatly for them they are in a genre that contain the same characteristics. Nevertheless this is no fault of the band, as 'Calm Before The Storm' has glimpses of originality and will most likely see the band gain new fans.

3/5

'Calm Before The Storm' by Set It Off is availble now.
Visit Set It Off's MySpace for more details.