When you have your own blog, you have the opportunity to express your opinion quite easily to all who would dare to read your words. When it comes to music reviews, I am neither an expert nor a novice. However, I tend to lean toward a bias of reviewing new additions to our music catalog that I like. Rarely, maybe even never, do I spend much time or exert much energy on something musical I don’t like. But that’s not fair to the music that sucks. It too deserves the right of me providing some opinionated nondescript review.

So this time around, I’m going to review an album, which despite how infectious and saccharine-enriched the songs are, the overall theme and execution are downright annoyingly predictable and consistent.

It all starts with the overly sensationalized ratings killing “Dancing with the Stars.” Yes. I watch this show. Often? Not so much. But I’m drawn to the scantily clad women moving rhythmically to a talented band that typically ruins a pop music tune during the performance. Consistent with previous seasons, we find some ridiculous untalented stars paired with some talented pros. But there’s an exception to the rule. Enter Mark Ballas pro dancer extraordinaire. Birthed from two international champion dancers, the guy was destined to shimmy on the national stage. The dude is talented. However, according to my wife, he takes too many opportunities to expose his abdomen. Can we get this from the ladies too? Where’s the fairness?

Anyway. “Dancing with the Stars” is on ABC, owned by Disney. This tends to work in the Mouse-driven conglomerate’s favor when trying to woo young starlets to the dance floor. Now enter the bouncy Chelsea Kane, the Disney youth formally known as Chelsea Straub. Paired with Mr. Ballas, they have quite the chemistry. Ballas choreographs and Kane nails it. It helps that she’s a cutie. In recent competition, the duo parlayed a cha cha, limbo, fox trot, or paso to a catchy tune which hooked her name.

I’m thinking to myself, “she’s cute and has a song named after her, this band must know something.” So I research the song and the band and discover it’s a little group called The Summer Set. Thinking that it can’t be all that bad, I resort to downloading the torrent.


Let’s get into the sonic discussion of The Summer Set and their album “Love Like This.”

Just like most pop music of the day, it could be Lady Gaga, Kesha, Pink music and beats, heavy Euro-synth, and with some auto-tuned voice on top. Basically, this isn’t all that original. It’s like the pop formula of the day. It’s Mickey Mouse as a carbon based life form. Take a group of cute kids, maybe 18-23. Give them instruments. Get an old white dude recording engineer. Get some serious electronic equipment to develop and sculpt the sound. Get the most photogenic with the whiniest over-hyped rodent-like voice to lead them into battle. Lastly, make sure you always start with a catchy hook and then build the song around it. Rinse and repeat for eleven or so tracks.

Chelsea – This is the aforementioned track that got me to burn bandwidth and download this pack of Skittles dipped in syrup smothered in sugar and then coated in Magic Shell. This is by far the best candy bar in the box. Nothing unique; childhood obsession with a Mouseketeer. Come on. We all have been there. Your dad likes Annette Funicello and you like Brittany Spears as do many old men and your wife likes Justin Timberlake.



This is How We Live – On another level over indulgence, this track is bonafied bragging at your highs school reunion. It’s no Lil Wayne song about how ghetto he is. This is ex-high school, Mouseketeer wanna-be’s telling you about their ripped jeans and living their dreams. OK, it’s a little narcissistic and addictive to listen to.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s happy happy joy joy but every track is so similar to the one before it and after it. It’s an ambiguous amalgamation of electronic beats and youthful piercing voices yearning for understanding why their high school crush won’t go with them to the senior prom.

The Summer Set’s “Love Like This” has an undeniable cotton candy charm, and those not averse to sugary-sweet jams will find themselves tapping their toes and singing along to all 13 tracks. Hell, I actually listen to it and feel my teeth rotting from the high fructose corn syrup saturated music dripping down my ear canal.

The group’s first LP, "Love Like This," is definitely a solid venture, and a testament to the troupe’s seemingly boundless knack for writing killer pop anthems. Listening to “Love Like This” isn’t going to bolster anyone’s street cred, but it’s a promising collection of charming sugary ju-ju-bees from this band dead set on turning your ears into over indulged saccharine. Cavity creeps attacking.