https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSgOVfvauhY
(Still a staple for me to listen to every October or so)
This album starts off with “Where Are We Now?”, and appropriate title after coming off of a 17 year hiatus. And for the most part this is exactly where you think they would pick up, with some light guitar pickings and nothing necessarily heavy. The airy atmosphere is pretty nice until the vocals come in. The first thing I said to myself listening to “Where Are We Not?” was “Is that seriously Mike Kinsella?”. Obviously, you know the dude is going to sound older after 17 years, but this is like mind boggling. Hell he didn’t sound this old a few months ago when he released his latest solo album on his other project Owen. And the sad part is, he brings the rest of the band down. Kinsella’s vocals here make American Football sound like a different kind of band entirely, not even a different band, a totally different genre of band. Yes, that’s right American Football fans, “Where Are We Now?” sounds less like a classic Emo track and sounds like…..Adult Contemporary Soft Rock *shudders*. Yea I know that one was hard to swallow, you may want to take a minute before reading on, the worst is over I promise. Lyrically, ironically enough American Football really haven’t changed that much, and as far as lyrics go it’s a really solid performance. But there’s no soul to be found on “Where Are We Now?”, there’s no warmth, all of the things that made such a wonderful sound for the band in 1999 is gone here. A few tracks later “Home Is Where the Haunt Is” has a lot of the same issues. It starts off with that same warm feeling you would expect, but Kinsella’s vocals while they are heartfelt I just can’t get into. Honestly, he can obviously still sing and sound wonderful doing it, but to be honest I just can’t get on board with it. I will say this though, there are tracks on here where it works wonderfully, we’ll get to that though. On “Home Is Where The Haunt Is” though, everything just comes off so cold, so uninviting. Sure, most of the melodies come off really well, but lyrically this is filled with every last cliche in the Big Book O’ Emo. I’d even say half of these cliche’s American Football invented back in 99. My main problem isn’t song quality here, a lot of these tracks when you break it down aren’t that bad. But they’re just so unbelievably bland and run of the mill. “I've Been So Lost for So Long”, starts off with more of the same, honestly a whole lot of these instrumentals blend together a little too much. I will give Kinsella this, as the album goes on, he does sound more truly heartbroken and emotionally lost. “I've Been So Lost for So Long” ends up building quickly, and lyrically has some of the most interesting lines here. Not to mention, as these tracks roll on they actually get really complex instrumentally, all hope isn’t lost for one of Emo’s most treasured acts. Hell there’s even a little math rock thrown in there for old times sake. Ironically enough, the group vocals, something I’ve always thought American Football pulled off so well, is the main downfall of “I've Been So Lost for So Long”. Here, the group vocals just don’t come off nearly as effective. I feel like for American Football on this album for everything one thing they do right, they flop in another aspect. I do however love those gorgeous, old school sounding piano’s floating through the background here, I could have used more of that.
As we move on through American Football’s comeback album, there are actually some truly sincere moments that give me hope for the future of the band. “My Instincts Are the Enemy” early on in the album instantly shows signs of improvement. As far as the instrumental goes, it’s easy on the ears but still shows off that technicality lying underneath everything, it’s exactly what I want to hear from them. Here, American Football is clearly playing from their heart, something that I’ve commended them on in the past. Here, Mike Kinsella’s vocals are much more on point, the group vocals come off wonderfully done as well. Lyrically, Kinsella proves to be an above average songwriter, but he honestly always has been (if you haven’t listened to Kinsella’s side project Owen, you really should). He doesn’t always make the boldest statements, but he makes up for that with down to earth sincerity and heartfelt performances. “My Instincts Are the Enemy” still doesn’t hold a candle to the material they were producing way back when, but this is still a really great sound for them. Lyrically though, it’s fascinating. They really haven’t grown up in a way, and still talk about a lot of the same topics, but it certainly doesn’t come off as awkward. It just kinda sounds like you’re catching up with an old friend that you haven’t seen in years. “Born To Lose” is one of the most solid performances on the entire album, quickly grabbing my attention and not letting go. Right from the opening instrumentals you can tell the band is so much more into this than some of the other performances here. The group vocals on “Born To Lose” are absolutely chilling, as they don’t even come off as group vocals, just one solid, soft entity. The bass that keeps lumbering along, the twinkling guitar riff, everything about this is absolutely gorgeous. Lyrically, “Born To Lose” is absolutely on the simpler side, but American Football make it work. Not to mention, some of the visuals as the lyrics roll on are absolutely stunning. The atmosphere here is exactly the warm, cozy atmosphere I’ve been dying to hear. Overall, “Born To Lose” is one of the most consistent tracks here, why the hell can’t other tracks be like this? Kinsella’s vocals towards the end become almost tearjerking, and so painfully real, it’s stunning. It’s just so frustrating though, especially hearing really underwhelming tracks like “Give Me The Gun” later. Instrumentally this track starts off pretty cool, with almost a little jam thrown in there, and it just keeps getting better as the track rolls on. On the other hand, lyrically and vocally this may be the least interesting track here As far as the lyrics go, I feel like American Football themselves have written these tracks before, it’s just so generic. And it’s a real freakin’ shame, because instrumentally this is a damn treat. The guitar licks are slick, the drumming is actually really impressive, and the atmosphere they create is just fantastic. If the vocals and lyrics would have been on point, “Give Me The Gun” would have been near perfect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXdYp4nss0U
Thankfully, American Football end up ending this album off pretty solidly. On "I Need a Drink (or Two or Three)", I'll be honest just hearing that trumpet right off the bat gives mes the absolute chills. All of a sudden, I feel 17 again and just hearing American Football for the first time. The atmosphere on "I Need a Drink (or Two or Three)" is absolutely spot on, that warm sound that once came from American Football is back and I honestly can't stop smiling. Kinsella sounds solid here and delivers another truly heartfelt performance, really bringing in that sense of longing. Plus the background vocals here really give this track some really nice dimension to it. Everything about the sound of "I Need a Drink (or Two or Three)" is what American Football should be going for at this point in their lives. I mean who the hell knows if we're ever going to get another album from American Football, or even how long that would take at this point. But if they do, this would be the sound I want to hear. Up next is "Desire Gets in the Way", which instantly has one of the spunkiest sounding instrumentals here. No, it's not "heavy", but it certainly has a little bite to it. As far as vocals go, Kinsella sound's fired up to say the least, and as far as the instrumentals go, they're the sharpest they've been yet. Hell, I would even go as far as to say that if Kinsella sounded younger this would have fit nicely on the first American Football album (I didn't think I was going to be saying that anytime soon). "Desire Gets in the Way" gets a little weird when the lyrics get a bit Kinky in the later bars, but this still works really well. Then we have the album's finale "Everyone Is Dressed Up". Instrumentally once again I can't really complain about this, American Football sound about where they should be. It's not too airy, and it's not heavy at all, but it's just so them. Kinsella doesn't really sound too impressive on this one, he actually sounds a little timid. Not even timid in the old school Emo sort of way either, but just in a zero confidence in his performance kinda way, which isn't good at all. But everything else really makes up for that. That smooth trumpet that pops in once again gives me massive flashbacks, and as far as the atmosphere goes everything is solid. The vocals could be better like I said, but overall this finale gets a check in my book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOvMsmHRGig
Rating: 7.6/10
Give A Listen To: “Born To Lose”, “I Need a Drink (or Two or Three)”, “Desire Gets In The Way”, “My Instincts Are The Enemy”
Overall Thoughts: I mean after 17 years, I really didn't know what to expect from this album. Mike Kinsella's voice is going to be a turn off for older fans, because there are more than a few moments here where it just changes the band's sound so much. There are a lot of cringey lines and some moments where the band just sounds emotionless. But as a whole, this is pretty solid, there are a lot of tracks on here that are going to bring back a lot of great memories. It's nowhere near as inviting as their last album so long ago, but for this point in their lives this could have been a whole lot worse.
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