Boysetsfire - Live For Today

Since Boysetsfire’s critically lauded sophomore effort, After the Eulogy, a wave of militarism, a barrage of political distress and an onslaught of atrocities have laced the post-9/11 hangover our world lives in. “Release the Dogs” may be Boysetsfire’s retaliation against the United States’ close-minded policies and political righteousness, but the track offers nothing riveting or urgent to our musical subculture. In fact, the two remaining new tracks Boysetsfire pieced together for this EP further solidify that conclusion: It seems as if this Delaware-based band have written all their heavy handed hardcore tracks before and now all they can do is re-write and retread past classics. “Bathory’s Childhood” does a fine job of watering down and demoting their previous vicious hardcore punk outlook onto the world, but it’s in the live setting Boysetsfire thrive upon. The leftover live tracks from Live For Today spotlight Boysetsfire’s past career of slashing guitar, lyrical activism and deadly rhythms on their writhing discography. It seems as if “Rookie,” in its natural live setting, incorporates everything “Release the Dogs” and the other studio-fed tracks wish to ultimately accomplish. Boysetsfire are in dire need of reinvention – or at least invention, but this EP thankfully encompasses Boysetsfire in their live setting with gnashing past sound staples to rest upon. [www.boysetsfire.com]