BoySetsFire

BoySetsFire (2015)

haborym

BoySetsFire album isn't a terrible album.  It's certainly middle of the road.  But, this isn't just any generic band - this is Boy Sets Fire.  This is the band that released amazing albums like The Day the Sun Went Out and even their foray onto Victory Records' debut After the Eulogy.  

 Even on their later releases, BSF tended to have at least one or two songs that really stood-out and made the remainder of the album something one could pretend to like.  The closest this album comes to that feeling is either "One Match" which gets ruined by a whoa-whoa anthem.  "Heaven Knows" is possibly a little bit better, but the delay/echo vocal effect that Nathan uses ruins it.  

Other than those two songs, the other eleven albums run the gamut from ballad-y "we're trying to recreate our breakthrough emo sound from the mid-90's" to "we're angry…growl."  

Maybe part of the disappointment was the optimism for this album. Then they released The Misery Index , it was a bit disappointing.  By that point, they were on the downswing, but it was more of a let down than was expected.  With hindsight, songs like "(10) and Counting" really showed the album was underrated.  Then, years later, they got back together and released While a Nation Sleeps… , another even more mediocre album.  Now, two years later, the band stumbles again.  Some artists lose their spark and maybe that's what happened to Boy Sets Fire.  

All that being said, Nathan's vocals are still on point, at least when they switch between singing and screaming.  And thankfully there's enough of the two to make this not horrible.  But, listening to this album makes one miss The Casting Out that much more.