Hate to break it to you mate, but 2008 was 8 whole years ago. I know right? Times have changed and the landscape of the scene has as well, more dramatically than one could ever comprehend. Though many bands from that era have either split up or changed their sound completely, one of the last remaining warriors from the neon halcyon days of the late ‘00s Jordan Mark Witzigreuter, aka The Ready Set, continues to put out sugary sweet love songs that would fit in as nicely back in the day as they sound fresh in 2016. Now with his fourth full-length ‘I Will Be Nothing Without Your Love’, he will be hoping to continue to soundtrack summer romances and rekindle lost loves in the only way he knows how.
As the brilliantly euphoric opening keys of ‘Disappearing Act’ flow into the cutesy warmth of ‘Being Afraid’, the ghosts of past heartbreaks and current anxieties fade almost completely to black. Experimentation seems to be the name of the game this time around for The Ready Set and the results are the very definition of mixed. ‘Fire In The Sky’ and ‘Run With Me’ channel 80’s pomp a la The 1975 in abundance alongside ‘First’, which is a tender slice of electro pop that simmers and trickles with infectious cuteness.
On the flip side of things though, the title track is a bit too glitchy for its own good and the less said about the rapped refrain the better, while the reggae leaning ‘No Love’ is a unnecessary venture into the beige and beiger. It’s a shame that consistency isn’t Witzigrauter’s strongpoint as there is heaps of potential on show here, yet pushing the buttons a bit too hard lets him down. Luckily though piano led closer ‘See You’, feeling like the sun setting on the best day of your life, pulls things back from the brink of obscurity just in time.
At its peak ‘I Will Be Nothing Without Your Love’ feels like the beginning of summer. Radiating gleaming sunshine from every charming pore and parting the clouds with every bubbling beat, Jordan creates good-time love songs that can’t help but raise a smile. It may be a bit too bubblegum in places and undeniably grating in others, but there is still a lot of infectious pop innocence to pull from an album that could soundtrack many a summertime memory.
3/5
’I Will Be Nothing Without Your Love’ by The Ready Set is released on April 8th on Hopeless Records.
The Ready Set links: Facebook|Twitter
Words by Jack Rogers (@JackMRog)
