Wind-Up just wasn't the right fit for
Boy Sets Fire. The band admitted as much on their website, after they'd gotten out of the deal and signed with Equal Vision, a label more palatable to their live wire post-hardcore. The band's first EV release is
Before the Eulogy, a collection of rarities and unreleased material that, obviously, predate the 2000 Victory breakthrough After the Eulogy. Early demo tracks like "Turn the Key" and "One Subject Notebook" prove the fire started early; the songs owe a lot to
Fugazi and the vigor of youth, but they still hold the intangibles of a rock-solid band. In Chrysalis, a 1998 EP for Initial, is here in its entirety; "Loser of the Year" emphasizes
BSF's melodic center, while
the Dead Kennedys' "Holiday in Cambodia" is hectic and anxious, like they're singing it as they escape over reams of razor wire. The last part of
Before the Eulogy includes the
Suckerpunch Training EP and a roundup of compilation tracks, the best of which is probably the raucous "No Time Safe." Sure,
Fugazi's an influence again. But the passion flying every which way inside this track could never, ever be faked. ~ Johnny Loftus