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| 9/10 |
To look at this record subjectively, it really has to be assessed in isolation to their debut LP of 1999.
Otherwise, I think you will have a predetermined bias against the music. Of course it's natural to feel this way, given the almost god like status the first album has given over the last decade and a half.
American Footballs debut record was a huge sleeper hit, continuing to amass accolades from the listening public. In a way the band was like a mirage, you can't quite see them in the distance, but you're sure you've seen something. The music they created was so well presented and mystical, that it's hard to fathom that they only made this one album.
The members dispersed into other ventures shortly after recording the first album, and quietly dissolved the group. Mike Kinsella formed Owen, to which a lot of the style of AF can be heard in.
I think the fact that this band completed this project, then under a week later all moved to different towns, is probably very telling in the way they felt about the music. It was a good recording session, but none of them could of imagined the lasting impact the record has had.
Their reunion in 2014 was ominous, after some shows to rave reviews, and a reissue of the aforementioned debut, it seemed another studio album was on the cards.
So now we hear the first material in 17 years. It's a long time in between albums (except for Tool perhaps). A lot has changed.
The most notable thing is Kinsella's vocals. Over the years his voice had become more distinguished, so replacing the high end squeaky emo stylings of Mike Kinsella circa 1999, is a slightly lower octave mature vocalist, who can control his voice with the years of practice.
The other thing, probably the most here, is that all the band members are in their mid to late thirties now. they have all gone off to do various projects and have spent a good deal of time, detached from the music of American Football for a long time. We have to remember here, that this band before their hiatus, were around for only 3 years. So the spontaneity of the music, I think was captured so well, that I think listeners immediately took to it.
The opener "Where are we now" starts off the album brilliantly, with a slow fade in and the iconic twin guitar interplay being put to the front. Then we have a track that feels very forward thinking, but contemplative.
"Instincts are my enemy" carries the album through the same sort of themes.
"Give Me The Gun" is probably the best track on this album, for some reason it seems to hit a note with me, it's a high watermark for the album.
Where LP1 dealt with the disillusionment of youth, that angsty feeling of your teenage years, your inability to articulate your feelings properly without breaking out in a rage. LP2 basically has us in a totally different headspace. After all, everyone has grown up or has to grow up sometime. In our most solitary moments, our thoughts drift backwards, about what could of been, and forward, the future presents uncertainty.
And that's the thing about good music. It's in the moment. A lot of artists are interviewed and will talk about how many hundred times they did a take for a song in the studio, but remember the 1 that made the record and the other 99 were forgotten about. They know when the moment has come, we know when the moment is here. That's the approach the first LP took. They had nothing to lose, put it all out there, then left it, only to become this gargantuan cult classic.
So it's a big ask to try and get the band to recreate or emulate that feeling again after all this time. The blueprint for their sound is here, Lamos' stuttering drum style, the polyrhythmic guitar riffs, the brooding trumpets on some of the tracks. It's all here, and it's executed brilliantly.
"I've Been Lost So Long" was a great single release in the lead up to the LP. It tends reel you in with the nostalgia hit I think a lot of people will be coming to this record for. Because if I'm to be completely honest, the critics and fans have put American Football so high up on a pedestal, that anything other than a ground breaking effort will result in their utter deflation.
I think that is something the band will have to deal with. We can't expect miracles, but at the same time we can't live in suspended animation either and wish we were in 1999 for the rest of eternity.
This album is a well executed, competent album, with some great vocal delivery musicianship and lyrics synonymous with Kinsella's great musical output. Endearment takes time, because after all, we could be talking about this album as an un-desputed classic when the 3rd album drops in 2033.
Callan Cummings
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