American Football - American Football (LP2)

American Football
American Football (LP2)
2016
Spotify

American Football were always that band that never fulfilled on their promise. Not because they put out a couple electronic albums that sucked, but more because they just stopped making music. In terms of emo they never went full hair swoop and all black, setting themselves apart and keeping a little fire warm in the faithful all the the years piled on and on. It has been 17 years since their last album and it makes this new record LP2 one of the most anticipated of the year. It would be easy to fall into old habits but American Football have shown that their time wasn't just wasted, instead it allowed them to grow, progress, and write. "Home is Where the Haunt Is" seems like it may be over the top in terms of emotional pining, but it delivers on what the title sets up. The song is sweet yet haunting and sad, filled with all those feelings that come from an empty house. One of the things people have always hated about emo, is really hot overly emotional it seems, but with American Football these emotions feel raw and naked rather than clothed in some kind on of teenage angst. That is why American Football seem to transcend while others fall flat under their own sap.

Unlike their former releases LP2 is extremely polished and sounds fantastic. Produced over two years via Dropbox gone are any kind of missteps or letting something be intentionally grungy and in its placed are clean guitar sounds and vocals that take center stage every time they come in. "Give Me the Gun" however is the first point where a lot of this breaks down. Some of the old ways slip in and it becomes to full of it's own emotion to really articulate something real. They bring it back around on "I Need a Drink (or Two or Three)" perfectly encapsulating that adult feeling of going home alone again and trying to find something, anything to numb that pain. Sometimes it is not about missing someone but more about struggling to be alone with yourself. Heady stuff, but the lyrics are so clear and plain that you cannot help but understand what is going on. Their remains on LP2 an urgency that we have never seen from American Football before, and it is because they have lives now and can no longer spend days upon days stirring up emotions. Life often gets in the way and that ends up being an essential piece to this new record. While it may not set the world on fire, American Football have shown what a great comeback can look like, it's not just reinvention, it's growing up.

8.3 out of 10