Get Set Go – Ordinary World

ARTIST: Get Set Go                    

TITLE:  Ordinary World

YEAR RELEASED: 2006

CHART ACTION: None

SINGLES: None

OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: Die MF Die, I Hate Everyone

LINEUP: Mike TV, John Wood, Pat Flores, Amy Wood, Dave Palamaro, Nate Greely, Eric Summer, Ryan Maynes

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: A long song-cycle released from an almost brand new band except for Mike TV, based on TV’s life during and after addiction and rehab.

SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: With song titles like “Die MF Die” and “I Hate Everyone” among others, you’d think this was a raging, angry punk rock record. That’s not what this is.

A lot of this is acoustic based, with melodies, with keyboards, strings, and nice arrangements. There’s a sadness and melancholy that permeates the music, especially when the song is angry at its core. It’s more of a world-weary anger than anything.

It’s a long record, 21 tracks and over an hour, but it doesn’t seem overstuffed nor overlong. That’s a feat in itself. TV really released his demons and thoughts with this album and made it enjoyable to listen.

NOTES & MINUTIAE: Some of these tracks have been on television show soundtracks.

IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No

GRADE: A-: Sometimes demons are exorcized in a tuneful and melodic way.

Get Set Go – So You’ve Ruined Your Life

ARTIST: Get Set Go

TITLE:  So You’ve Ruined Your Life

YEAR RELEASED: 2003

CHART ACTION: None

SINGLES: None

OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW:  Probably not unless you were in So Cal.

LINEUP: Mike TV, Dr. Modo, Amy Wood, Ryan Maynes

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: Melodic power pop with a little punk edge.

SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: Michael Torres, a/k/a Mike TV, is the main catalyst behind Get Set Go. The songs are rather melodic power pop with just enough of a punk edge to keep you guessing. The lyrics are as happy as they can be considering the subject matter is mainly about things that are broken.

There’s not a song that really sticks out here, because most of them tend to sound very similar and blur a bit by the middle. Only near the end, when the songs get more acoustic, do you really notice, and then it’s because the lyrics are, um, interesting on “What I Love About You”.

This isn’t going to set anyone’s ears on fire, but it’s a perfectly reasonable record, and better than some of the commercial stuff going on at the time.

 NOTES & MINUTIAE: One of the band names before Get Set Go was All Your Bass Are Belong To Us, which I wonder how many bands had that as their name.

IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No, but there’s a “hidden” track.

GRADE: B:  It’s OK, but sometimes all you need is OK.