Billy Da Mute
07/11/08, 03:00 PM
Boysetsfire - Tomorrow Come Today
Record Label: Wind-Up Records
Release Date: April 1, 2003
I was slightly perturbed when browsing through the reviews on the site and saw that no one had reviewed any of the Boysetsfire albums. I did not know how to assess the situation. Were there many people on AP.net that just haven’t heard of Boysetsfire, or was it just that their albums were a little dated? Was it that the band had broken up to do other projects, and they had become lost in the sands of time as just another hardcore band? Personally, Boysetsfire (specifically the album I chose to review, Tomorrow Come Today) was what made me start loving hardcore/screamo and melodic metal. Being one of the only hardcore bands I can remember being centered on politics, they did what they did extremely well. And having toured and played tons of shows, I think it’s time that the people who haven't heard Boysetsfire are informed of how incredibly awesome the band was.
Hailing from the university town of Newark, Delaware, Boysetsfire was composed of five local guys making way into the Delaware hardcore scene, alongside bands like Folly, My America's Watching Tigers Die, Fear Before The March Of Flames (at least that’s who they used to play with in the area) and coming to the stage with a strong political message. Their first release, The Day The Sun Went Out, which helped the band sign with Equal Vision, were twelve hardcore smacks in the face that immediately got them noticed by bigger labels (Tomorrow Come Today was released on Wind-Up Records).
I chose Tomorrow Come Today because it was my first Boysetsfire album, and I think it’s one that combines Nathan Gray’s singing and screaming well, and really makes the band shine as a standout post-hardcore rock group. The third full-length album with the boys starts up with a bang: opening up with the ever-so-catchy “Eviction Article,” the spoken intro, questioning, “Who are the real patriots? / who are the real traitors? / Protest is patriotism,” you know that this may be a little more than passionate about the situation in government at the time. This CD was released in April of 2003, literally a few weeks after the US was thought to formally be considered in war with Iraq, and the boys had some thoughts on their mind. Slamming on into the next couple tracks, Gray’s raspy vocals plead with the listener to question their patriotism, stand up for their rights, and make a difference in the world.
Barreling through the rest of the album without slowing down, listeners are taken through hardwired songs such as “High Wire Escape Artist,” “Management Vs Labor,” and "Foundations To Burn." Finishing the record is the ten-minute long “On In Five,” which starts out as another in-your-face hardcore song, only to end with the warning words, “This is not a test...” The combination of shredding guitars and growling raspy vocals really make this group one to be reckoned with, and these songs prove it. The album's production is top-notch, as it continued to improve when the band released The Misery Index on Equal Vision three years later.
It would be hard to classify Boysetsfire into any type of music group. They definitely have the influence of many different genres, and whether it is singing or screaming, their music is melodic and exciting. If not just because of the strong underlying political messages the boys are trying to get across, it’s well-worth a listen if you’re tired of the redundancy found in most bands in a similar vein today. I would definitely recommend Tomorrow Comes Today to anyone who likes anything ranging from pop-punk to hardcore, and even though this band is no longer, their message and chords still hold the power of change.
hardcore, post-hardcore, thought-provoking music
myspace.com/boysetsfire (http://www.myspace.com/boysetsfire)
Record Label: Wind-Up Records
Release Date: April 1, 2003
I was slightly perturbed when browsing through the reviews on the site and saw that no one had reviewed any of the Boysetsfire albums. I did not know how to assess the situation. Were there many people on AP.net that just haven’t heard of Boysetsfire, or was it just that their albums were a little dated? Was it that the band had broken up to do other projects, and they had become lost in the sands of time as just another hardcore band? Personally, Boysetsfire (specifically the album I chose to review, Tomorrow Come Today) was what made me start loving hardcore/screamo and melodic metal. Being one of the only hardcore bands I can remember being centered on politics, they did what they did extremely well. And having toured and played tons of shows, I think it’s time that the people who haven't heard Boysetsfire are informed of how incredibly awesome the band was.
Hailing from the university town of Newark, Delaware, Boysetsfire was composed of five local guys making way into the Delaware hardcore scene, alongside bands like Folly, My America's Watching Tigers Die, Fear Before The March Of Flames (at least that’s who they used to play with in the area) and coming to the stage with a strong political message. Their first release, The Day The Sun Went Out, which helped the band sign with Equal Vision, were twelve hardcore smacks in the face that immediately got them noticed by bigger labels (Tomorrow Come Today was released on Wind-Up Records).
I chose Tomorrow Come Today because it was my first Boysetsfire album, and I think it’s one that combines Nathan Gray’s singing and screaming well, and really makes the band shine as a standout post-hardcore rock group. The third full-length album with the boys starts up with a bang: opening up with the ever-so-catchy “Eviction Article,” the spoken intro, questioning, “Who are the real patriots? / who are the real traitors? / Protest is patriotism,” you know that this may be a little more than passionate about the situation in government at the time. This CD was released in April of 2003, literally a few weeks after the US was thought to formally be considered in war with Iraq, and the boys had some thoughts on their mind. Slamming on into the next couple tracks, Gray’s raspy vocals plead with the listener to question their patriotism, stand up for their rights, and make a difference in the world.
Barreling through the rest of the album without slowing down, listeners are taken through hardwired songs such as “High Wire Escape Artist,” “Management Vs Labor,” and "Foundations To Burn." Finishing the record is the ten-minute long “On In Five,” which starts out as another in-your-face hardcore song, only to end with the warning words, “This is not a test...” The combination of shredding guitars and growling raspy vocals really make this group one to be reckoned with, and these songs prove it. The album's production is top-notch, as it continued to improve when the band released The Misery Index on Equal Vision three years later.
It would be hard to classify Boysetsfire into any type of music group. They definitely have the influence of many different genres, and whether it is singing or screaming, their music is melodic and exciting. If not just because of the strong underlying political messages the boys are trying to get across, it’s well-worth a listen if you’re tired of the redundancy found in most bands in a similar vein today. I would definitely recommend Tomorrow Comes Today to anyone who likes anything ranging from pop-punk to hardcore, and even though this band is no longer, their message and chords still hold the power of change.
hardcore, post-hardcore, thought-provoking music
myspace.com/boysetsfire (http://www.myspace.com/boysetsfire)