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Boy Sets Fire

The Day the Sun Went Out [reissue] (2005)
Equal Vision Records

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Contributed by: Anchors
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Published on December 25th 2005

Absolutely essential.

In the same year where Snapcase had released its landmark Progression Through Unlearning, another band playing a very similar style was about to make one hell of a name for themselves. Its tools? A progressive hardcore sound and a mind deeply rooted in social and political issues. This band was Boy Sets Fire, and The Day the Sun Went Out is responsible for the 36 minutes that put their very name on the map.

Now in 2005, eight years after that seminal release, Equal Vision has remastered and is reissuing the album. And we’re all better off for it.

Channeling all their socio-political rage into their music, Boy Sets Fire rip and rage with all the drive and passion they could possibly muster through 12 solid tracks. A band to always put forward their best foot first, “Cringe” opens the album with the line "My mouth is full, of your inspiration!" And it doesn’t relent even the slightest bit from there on out. Never a band to rely on heavy distortion or double bass drumming, the five-piece from Delaware impress with singer Nathan Gray's frantic and cathartic vocal style and the slick but hard hitting chord progressions of Chad Istvan and Josh Latshaw. Using a great contrast of clean and distortion, the guitarists are seemingly able to battle back and forth while still moving the song forward. “The Power Remains the Same” starts out with some smooth bass licks, before Gray’s vocals really rip through it all; there’s no doubt he’s the centerpiece of the band, the one that they all depend on. And it’s as much for his lyrics than his voice itself...

You’re just another anthem, guided by a bullet / You can take this all to hell, with your fucking victims / Down a toast of their blood with your wine, while refining your ego’s defense / The glory of bullets, the fire, the mob’s action to riot / Your keen sense of interest in the revolution will end / With the stains of innocence on your hands / The flags that divide us grow stronger, with your plastic refinement / Plaster your picture of heads lining your mantle, define your heresy with the streets / Line with their entrails, your murders reek of their guns / Your motives reek of their kind.

Some truly hard hitting words to accompany “Toy Gun Anthem,” an equally hard hitting musical assault. The fury of words and instrumentation truly does not relent at any point in the album, even in a few of the sporadic melodic passages that are strewn throughout. But it’s those lyrics that really put Boy Sets Fire above so many others; the impact can be felt just as much vocally as any chord progression. “Hometown Report Card” closes off this album in a fine fashion, with one of the more punishing tracks on the album, riding on some real terrific rhythms. Boy Sets Fire has always been a band with something to say, a voice against a lot of the wrongs going on throughout the world. This is where it all started, where the vision was first formed, and it sounds better than ever.

Until the forthcoming release of Boy Sets Fire’s fourth full-length early next year, this album will serve as a reminder of just what intelligent, progressive hardcore can be. Ahead of its time.

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Anonymous (April 18, 2006)

holy poor production batman!

Anonymous (January 5, 2006)

you know how i know ou're gay? you're always talking about dick.

Anonymous (January 5, 2006)

Thanks for pointing out my sexual preference based on my musical tastes. I can't quite pin down yours based on your comments, but I can conclude that you have an IQ of approximately dick.

Anonymous (January 4, 2006)

you know how i know you're gay? you like aus rotten.

Anonymous (January 3, 2006)

Aus Rotten's first LP has been out of print for years, yet this gets reissued. That is a fucking crime.

Anonymous (December 30, 2005)

I don't see what the point of reviewing a reissue is, unless the recording has been changed and the reviewer is going to comment on the changes. The reviewer says it was remastered, but I want to know how good the remastering is. Is it worth me or anyone else who has the original going out to get the new version? It would also be nice to see the reviewer put the recording into more context - why is it being reissued, anyway?

Anonymous (December 28, 2005)

I absolutely love this album, but there are two flaws. one is that although swingset is a very good song, i think it's the single most depressing thing that i've ever heard. the backstory in the liner notes really will make you miserable and makes that song very uncomfortable to listen to. two is the god awful cover of motley crue's live wire. if they have any sense they'll leave it off the reissue. it would be easy since it was always an unlisted bonus track.

k-dubs (December 27, 2005)

i put $30 that all the badly written, slang ridden, anti-boy sets fire comments are the members of years spent cold who are huddled around a 1996 compaq in mid-circle jerk.

Anonymous (December 27, 2005)

emo, screamo, and all that crap, hopefully this fad will pass quicker than disco and grunge....

Anonymous (December 27, 2005)

""Rape is bad, man". Its a good point, but if that isnt a majority opinion I dont know what is."

In the words of matt stone in baseketball "I think your kind of missing the point dude".

wyzo

Anonymous (December 27, 2005)

Didn't this band get signed to Creed's record label and start to suck?

theundergroundscene (December 26, 2005)

when they fuck are they going to release the mp3 for the first single "requiem"!!!!

I AM WAITING, they even shot a video for it already!

Godfather (December 26, 2005)

i went through and listened to all the albums again except for the new one which i don't have yet....i still say that after the eulogy is my least favorite....it still gets 4 and a half stars, but i just like tct and tdtswo a tad bit more

theundergroundscene (December 26, 2005)

i'd say after the eulogy is their best...and honestly, it's one of the best hardcore albums of all time...if you find a bad track on there, let me know

i also like tomorrow come today quite a bit too...obviously it's different and watered down, but it's really good watered down music, and nathan sounds amazing on it

new album will be a BEHEMOTH (or it should)

Anchors (December 26, 2005)

Chinatown, I know we don't always see eye to eye, but I'll give credit where it's due. Your comment in this thread was nothing short of comedic genuis. Well done.

skaboom (December 26, 2005)

Godfather - really? I though ATE was pretty much the unanimous favorite of everyone who listens to this band. I didn't think TCT was bad like some people did, but ATE to me seems like the perfect combination of raw emotion from this album and more refined songwriting skills from TCT. I'd put it in my list of top 10 hardcore records.

Pabstboy - it's not a B-sides record, it's a comp of their early material. First two demos, the Consider 7", This Crying, This Screaming EP, In Chrysalis EP, Suckerpunch Training EP, and a few compilation tracks. I think it is omitting a couple still in print splits (one with Snapcase, I think there is another that eludes me at the moment) but it should be a rockin' good time regardless.

Anonymous (December 26, 2005)

This is probably the worst album ever made. This is an instruction cd for how not to play drums. They have the worst drummer I have ever heard. I saw this band in Detroit once and the singer tells the crowd and I qote, "Rape is bad, man". Its a good point, but if that isnt a majority opinion I dont know what is. This band sucks, their politics are illfounded and stupid.

pabstboy (December 26, 2005)

Good reissue. Can't wait for new album and b-side releases due out by this spring.

Godfather (December 26, 2005)

i think tomorrow come today is their best followed closely by this album

Anonymous (December 26, 2005)

Great album, but I prefer After the Eulogy. Anchors sucks and blows.

-Chinatown

Archangel (December 26, 2005)

"this band is the furthest thing from blowing"

Sucking?

theundergroundscene (December 26, 2005)

if you can honestly sit there and say that this band BLOWS, i really have no idea what's going on in your head

this band is the furthest thing from blowing

I_Hate_IheartAdam (December 26, 2005)

boy sets fire shreds

iheartadam (December 26, 2005)

I guess bolding text makes you suck a little bit less? Wait, no. This band.....blows. Bold or not.

Godfather (December 26, 2005)

I like bands with good singers - someone

me too, i guess that's why i love boy sets fire.....his voice is so fucking powerful