Set It Off

I don’t think I’ve truly leaned into edgy teenager vibes until I found Set It Off…

And that’s a good thing. Before my descent (or ascension?) into Japanese culture and J-pop, my taste in music was comprised of the most soft boy pop vibes imaginable. Think Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, and my first favorite, Maroon 5. Namely, This Love by Marron 5 was probably the song I could point to as the origin point for my music taste.

A fun thing to know about me is that even though my song interests have evolved over time, my enjoyment for all of my favorite songs still have not been lost. I know of others who cannot stand to listen to the music they used to listen to, but most of the songs I’ve enjoyed in the past are still bangers to me now. I will still jam out to Love Yourself by Justin Bieber, Photograph by Ed Sheeran, Misery by Maroon 5, etc. Nowadays though, they are just not played that often as I’ve found even more amazing songs for me to listen to.

Which leads me to my obsession with the band Set It Off. Funnily enough, I have listened and enjoyed a song from them a while back called Duality. This was likely from Spotify’s recommendation algorithm back when I didn’t know how to explore my taste in music further outside of songs featured in shows or what was played on the radio.

I’m going to be frank here, this band’s whole vibe embodies the whole essence of what I enjoy. As someone mentioned briefly during one of my live streams when I showcased this band, they sound like a mix of an anime opening combined with a rebellious teenager. That’s like me for real for real…

You know how I said I started with soft boy pop? Well take that soft boy and hit him with the experiences of the “real” world and you get what I’ve turned into: a pop punk. Issue is, I haven’t really listened to much pop punk outside of Set It Off. I enjoy them THAT much.

It’s likely cause of the mix of super catchy lyrics combined with uplifting messages. But more so, it’s the relatability of the songs with an added edge in tone for most songs. This is especially true for my true favorite Kill the Lights as well as some classics like NME and of course Punching Bag.

Recently, I’ve really started to enjoy Creating Monsters from their recent albulm, Self Titled. I was on the side that it was a little cheesy in how the song is done, but over time I found that the simplicity of what the lyrics described was the most relatable thing to me at this point in time. It has grown on me to the point I’m playing this more often than some of the other songs on the Self Titled albulm (literally their best work so far) like my personal favorite from the albulm What’s In It For Me.

Overall, it’s a band that covers unique blend of rebellious punk spirit and the struggle of interacting with society/ourselves. What’s cool is that a lot of the more recent songs capture sort of the descriptions of the struggles I personally deal with. In turn, these serve as more so reminders to reflect on myself rather than relying on the song to tell me the answers.

P.S. Mark my words, I will get Set It Off to make an anime opening for my story.