The Summer Set
Stories for Monday
Album · Alternative · 2016
It’s album number four for Arizona pop-rockers The Summer Set, and Brian Dales is in the midst of an identity crisis. “I’m a bit too pop for the punk kids/But I’m too punk for the pop kids”, he ponders over a piano riff that immediately recalls The Who's “Baba O’Riley” on the arena-shaking opener “Figure Me Out". But no matter what he’s facing, the kid is gonna be alright. The hugely poppy “Missin’ You” brims with post-breakup positivity. And while Dales' pals are looking out for him on “All My Friends”, his ill-advised chase for a fleeting new romance is buffered by a playful mix of handclaps and jangly guitar. For the moment, “crazy is what I like”, he sings—and that’s fine by us.