Change Is Good?

A saying I've heard frequently throughout my life is the claim that "change is good." And I've come to realize that this claim is both true and false. Sure, change is something unavoidable that we all experience at some point in or lives. Wanted or not, we all go through change, and how we come to terms with it is what makes us who we are. It defines our strength and how we handle life in general. Now, change that we have control over is another story. For example, a new hairstyle, a new and different career, a change in diet, things like that. Such changes define who we are, and how we want to be seen. Those changes can also be negative and positive.

For The Summer Set, the change is unfortunately negative.

I have been a fan of The Summer Set since the day they released their first full-length album "Love Like This". It's full of catchy, upbeat songs with themes like love, partying, summer, and just having the time of your life. There's not a track on that record I don't sing out of key at the top of my lungs to. Likewise with their sophomore album, "Everything's Fine". This album goes deeper into the mind and heart of Brian Dales (lead singer). He sings about love and heartbreak, missing perfect times of being a kid and living it up. There's cute songs like "Love To You" and "Thick As Thieves" that are fun to sing to, and then there's songs like "When We Were Young" and "Back To The Start" that might make you reminisce about a lost relationship, one that you didn't want to end. In a lot of these songs, you can relate to, and connect with Brian, through his lyrics.

And after falling head-over-heels in love with this band and their music, I hear one of their most recent releases "F**k U Over". I love the song. It's got a catchy melody and reels you in with the memorable chorus that I love to sing out loud. Again, it's another song people can connect with, because a lot of people have been in a similar situation. Whether in Brian Dales position, or the unfortunate girl he's singing about. This track is going to be featured on their most recent album (out April 16th, April 15th in the UK), called Legendary. Being the Summer Set fanatic that I am, I'm constantly looking for updates on the album, new single releases, interviews, and just any news pertaining to it. So with all I've read, seen, and heard, I know how much hype there is for this album. After I heard the second single "Maybe Tonight", (an amazing song about finding out who you are and being true to it), I was convinced this record would be better than the last two.

Until I heard the third, and final, single release until the actual release of the album, "Boomerang".

I don't mean in any way, shape or form that this is a bad song, it's actually quite good. Upbeat and melodic, it's a song that makes you want to dance. The chorus is contagious.
 "If I was Jay-Z, you'd be my Beyoncé, we could rock the nation like they do.
And if I was DaVinci, you'd be Mona Lisa, paint a smile perfectly on you.
And if I was James Dean, you could be my Audry, breakfast at Tiffany's for two.
So throw me away, cause if I were a boomerang, I'd turn around and come back to you, back, back to you."
It's a song that could appeal to anyone: and that's my problem.

After the first two singles were released, I was a little bit hesitant to accept that the band I had come to know and love seemed to be changing. When "Boomerang" dropped, I could no longer deny it. The Summer Set was aiming to go mainstream, and that disappointed me greatly.

The band has implied in many interviews that I've seen and read, (and their record label, Fearless Records, has also implied) that they aim to make "Boomerang" a top 40 hit. The Summer Set wants to appeal to a larger audience, they want to get their name out there and their music heard by more ears than they've got now. This isn't my problem. I've heard over and over again how fans don't want their favorite bands to get big, they're scared it'll change them, or that they'll stop playing in the smaller venues, or possibly even it's just their own selfish desires. Whatever the case may be, The Summer Sets' fandom doesn't seem to be any different. With that said, I do admit that it makes me sad when I hear about my favorite bands hitting it big, but at the same time, that's what they're goal is, and it does make me happy to know they're doing well.

Again, the fact that The Summer Set wants to be mainstream isn't my problem; the way they're doing it is.

I am a loyal and hardcore music fan no matter what way you look at me, I love nothing (other than family and friends) more than I love my music. I go to concerts, buy the merch, layer my walls with posters and autographed pictures, and blast my music whenever I get the chance. I feel a personal connection with people I have never met (the bands) because of this passion I have for music. I feel offended and get angry when anyone insults the bands or genre I listen to. It's just how I am. This is the reason The Summer Set has been one of my favorite bands, I felt the connection the first time I listened to them.

But hearing "Boomerang", nothing jumped out at me. It is a good song, like I said. But I don't feel what I do when listening to "Everything's Fine" or "Love Like This". And in my opinion, it's because The Summer Set is changing their sound. It hurts me to use this term on a band I have loved for so long, but The Summer Set is on the verge of becoming a sell out in my opinion. While other fans love the new songs and look forward to the album, I'm scared that it's only going to confirm what I've been fearing: they're changing their sound so the mainstream audience will like it.

This happens to far too many good bands, and I feel the reason is because they are grossly under rated. The best example I can think of is a band called Faber Drive. This band was known for their rock/punk sound and catchy, heart felt lyrics that people could relate to. They didn't have an extremely huge fan base, but the fans they had were loyal and passionate about their music. I was never as big of a fan of them as I am with The Summer Set, but I was outraged when I heard their album "Lost In Paradise". There was nothing Faber Drive about that album, full of synthesizers, auto tune, and corny lyrics, there wasn't a fan who didn't think it wasn't a joke. Getting back to my point, the reason I believe that Faber Drive changed their sound so drastically, was because they wanted a bigger response. They wanted more fans, and with the music that's considered mainstream today, that was the best and fastest way they knew how to do it. Obviously, it was the wrong way.

This is what I fear for The Summer Set. I think their situation is no different from Faber Drive's. While TSS does have a bigger fan base, they still want more, and their music is suffering because of it. "Boomerang" doesn't seem genuine whatsoever, it seems an attempt to pull that mainstream audience in and get them hooked, hopefully so that they'll listen to the rest of the record and tell their friends. TSS has been doing whatever they can to get the word out about this album, so I know there will be a lot of new ears...but if there's anyone like me out there, they'll be losing a lot of the ones that were true to them for so long.

If this album is anything like I think it will be, I'm sad to say that The Summer Set might be losing a faithful and loyal fan. And I know people will argue that if I stop listening to and supporting them because of this, I'm not really "a loyal and true fan". And to that I say, how do you figure? I'm a fan of The Summer Set and the MUSIC they make. That's what it's all about, the music. So if the music begins to suck, why would I continue to listen?

I just hope The Summer Set doesn't let it all go to their heads, and they continue to make the music that is so popular among their already-existing fan base, because if they don't, they might lose what's already got them so far: us.