Mutiny!


Mutiny! is the debut studio album by the rock band Set Your Goals. Within the first three months of 2006, the band signed to independent label Eulogy Recordings and recorded the album with Barrett Jones in Seattle, Washington. Immediately following recording, the band embarked on two tours across the United States. Before releasing Mutiny in July, the album was preceded by the single release of the title track. The band subsequently toured the US, either as a supporting act or headlining, into mid-2007. After appearing on that year's Warped Tour, the group toured across Europe before closing out the year with another US tour.
At the end of 2007, guitarist Dave Yoha left the band and was replaced by Dan Coddaire. Another round of touring followed, throughout Australia and the UK, before the release of the music video for "Echoes". A deluxe edition of Mutiny! was released before the second stint on the Warped Tour. While firmly a pop punk album, Mutiny! showcases influences from Lifetime and CIV. The release charted on the lower reaches of the Billboard Independent and Heatseekers component charts. Mutiny! received a positive reaction from music critics, with a few commending the band's constant energy. It has since appeared on a few best-of album lists by Big Cheese, Kerrang! and Rock Sound.

Background and production

Set Your Goals released a self-titled EP through local label Straight On Records in July 2004. The group supported the release with a full US tour, then two separate east and west coast tours later in the year. The band then demoed five songs and shopped them round to record labels; when the demos leaked, the band was persuaded to play the songs live after receiving a positive reaction from fans. On January 3, 2006, it was announced that the band had signed to independent label Eulogy Recordings. The label announced they would re-issue the band's self-titled EP and release their debut album later in the year.
Mutiny! was recorded at the Laundry Room in Seattle, Washington, between February 20 and March 11, 2006. The sessions were co-produced by Barrett Jones, who also acted as engineer. Jones played keyboards on "An Old Book Misread" and "Echoes". In addition to their regular instruments, the band members provided additional roles: additional bass guitar by Brown on "Mutiny!", "To Be Continued..." and "Don't Let This Win Over You"; backing vocals by Yoha on "Mutiny!" and Ambrose on "To Be Continued..."; and additional gang vocals by the band. Jones mixed the recordings, before they were mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side studio.

Composition

Set Your Goals are influenced by older melodic hardcore bands such as Lifetime and CIV, with elements of newer acts like the Movielife, New Found Glory, Rufio and Bodyjar. While their self-titled EP displayed a fair mix of hardcore punk and pop punk, Mutiny! leans more towards the latter genre with elements of the former. They borrowed the catchy melodies from pop punk and combined them with the gang vocals, slow breakdowns and faster tempo of hardcore punk. Additionally, the vocals are akin to those sung by New Found Glory, and the chord progressions sound very similar to those performed by Lifetime on their album Jersey's Best Dancers. Avoiding typical themes of heartbreak, Mutiny! tackles the themes of taking risks, forced influence and credibility.
"Work in Progress" begins with an acoustic intro, before it builds "into an abrupt explosion of electric power and force". "We Do It for the Money, Obviously!" is about detractors from the hardcore scene who thought the group didn't have punk credibility. "Mutiny!" is about the music industry and an unnamed individual from an independent record label who told the band they needed to write more choruses. "This Song Is Definitely Not About a Girl" is about the misinterpretation of "Latch Key" an older track in the band's catalogue on their self-titled EP. The next track, "An Old Book Misread", talks about how no single religion is more important than any other.

Release and touring

From March to May 2006 the band went on tour with Crime in Stereo, which was followed by a supporting slot for Ignite across the US, running into June. On June 8, the single "Mutiny!" was released along with its music video. Later that month, the group embarked on a European tour with the Steal. During the UK portion of the tour, Set Your Goals and the Steal released a split 10". Mutiny! was released on July 11 through Eulogy Recordings; the Japanese edition, released on August 5, included "Goonies Never Say Die!" and a cover of the Gorilla Biscuits track "Forgotten" as bonus tracks, along with a DVD containing two music videos. Following three shows with Gorilla Biscuits in August, the group embarked on a headlining US tour in September and October. They were supported by No Trigger and the Distance. For the remainder of October, they supported Less Than Jake for a handful of shows. In November, the band went on a Midwest and west coast tour with Terror. In January and February 2007, the band performed a few shows with Senses Fail and Saosin.
In February and March, the band went on a tour of North America with support from Every Second Counts, Save Yourself and Fireworks. However, in early March the band were involved in a van accident which resulted in them dropping the remainder of their March headlining dates. They recovered in time to support Anti-Flag on their War Sucks... tour in late March and April. In mid-May, the band toured alongside Drop Dead, Gorgeous on their US west coast tour. In May and June, the band went on a headlining tour of the US with support from Just Surrender, Driving East and Fireworks. From late June to late July, the band performed on the Warped Tour. Between July and September, the group embarked on a headlining European tour, with support from No Trigger. In October and November, the band supported New Found Glory and Senses Fail on their co-headlining tour of the US. On December 24, the band announced that Yoha had left Set Your Goals as he no longer wanted to tour full time. He was temporarily replaced by Dan Coddaire, who he had replaced.
In January 2008, the group went on a tour of Australia with Silverstein. In February and March, the band toured the UK with Gallows, Fucked Up and Short Sharp Shock. On March 26, a music video was released for "Echoes" on the band's Myspace account. Between late March and early May, the group toured as part of the Bamboozle Roadshow. The band then appeared at the Bamboozle Left festival in April, and at the Give it a Name festival in May. A deluxe edition of the album with five demos and a video was released on May 27, 2008. Guitarist Audelio Flores, Jr. said this was done because the original pressing had sold out. Since the group lacked new material, they opted to give their label their demos and a music video. Between June and August, the band performed on Warped Tour again. In November, the band supported New Found Glory on their tour of the UK. The band went on a brief holiday tour, titled Setting the Records Straight Tour alongside Four Year Strong, Every Avenue and Energy in December.

Reception

Critical response

Mutiny! was praised by most music critics. Meg Reinecker of Punknews.org also noted the high-energy throughout the release. She praised the album's momentum, referring to it as "impeccable from start to finish, fitting together like a puzzle". She noted, "Set Your Goals aren't singing about how cute girls are or how much school sucks. They're tackling selling out, being force-fed religion, maintaining relationships with family and friends, and taking risks in life." AllMusic reviewer Corey Apar said that while the album begins with "a somewhat misleading start" during the intro of "Work in Progress", the group "never lets up" throughout the remainder of the record. He noted that the band performs with enough urgency and passionate energy that they "remind tired ears what can be so great and engaging about simple punk music in the first place".
Ox-Fanzine writer Lauri Wessel complimented the "pleasant way" in which the group combines "melodic punk rock... with old school hardcore". He singled out "Work in Progress" and "An Old Book Misread" as examples of "rousing" energy, joined by "good melodies" in the verse sections, typically "dissolv into beautiful singalongs in the choruses". Sputnikmusic staff member Nick Greer applauded the mix of hardcore and pop punk, calling it "deadly catchy" and coming across as "incredibly fresh and enjoyable". Though his "immediate reaction" to the majority of the material was "overwhelmingly positive", he lost interest after a few playbacks, highlighting the centre of the album where it "drags after repeated listens".

Accolades and aftermath

Mutiny! charted on two Billboard component charts: number 46 on Independent Albums, and number 47 on the Heatseekers Albums.
Big Cheese ranked Mutiny! at number 24 on their list of top 50 albums of 2006. It later featured on three best-of pop punk album lists: number 31 on BuzzFeed's 36 Pop Punk Albums You Need To Hear Before You F——ing Die; number 46 on Rock Sounds The 51 Most Essential Pop Punk Albums of All Time; and number 49 on Kerrang! The 51 Greatest Pop-Punk Albums of All Time. Similarly, NME listed the title track as part of their Essential Pop Punk Playlist.
In 2015, Wilson revealed that Eulogy Recordings had not paid the band any royalties for the album or merchandise sales. Independent label Epitaph Records bought the band out of the remainder of their contract, however, a portion of it was paid up-front with the remainder being recouped via sales of This Will Be the Death of Us. In November and December 2016, the band went on a 10th anniversary tour for the album, performing it in its entirety.

Track listing

Track listing per booklet. All recordings produced by Barrett Jones and Set Your Goals.

Personnel

Personnel per booklet.
Set Your Goals
Additional musicians
Production