In the 17 years since American Football broke up, their first and only album has come to define an intricate, melodic strain of emo now widely imitated but rarely equalled. The album was buoyed by a handful of genre-defining songs but its enduring success is attributable to how well it captured a feeling. Alone among breakup albums, American Football traded melodrama to focus on the banality of heartbreak, the quiet melancholy of a prolonged but inevitable goodbye played out through plaintive melodies and meandering guitar jams.
17 years later, American Football has broadened their sound and tightened their song craft to create an album that distils the uncanny beauty of their debut into a more concise and conventional follow up. Singer Mike Kinsella is as heartbroken now as he was then, though nine albums released as Owen have left his lyrics sounding a little overcooked next to the endearing directness of his earlier work. Sonically the biggest difference is the addition of a permanent bass player which lends immediacy to some of the album’s best hooks (My Instincts are the Enemy) and gives a spine to the jammier moments (Born to Lose).
Combined with more traditional song structures and heavier use of vocal harmonies, LP2 should please old fans while attracting some new ones. They were never going to capture the magic of the original, but album high points like My Instincts are the Enemy and Desire Gets in the Way make you glad they’re back.
By Tiernan Morrison
