AMERICAN FOOTBALL - American Football [LP4]

A debut that became an essential benchmark for an entire scene, followed by silence. It seemed like the American Football story had closed with a single act, unrivalled chroniclers of that slice of American indie that flowed into Midwest emo. In 2016, seventeen years later, here they are back together instead, faithful to their idea of sound ("LP2") and ready to expand its boundaries by also opening up to new voices ("LP3"). A new beginning interrupted by the pandemic shutdown and, at the same time, Steve Lamos's departure for personal reasons. With the lineup restored, everything starts up again in 2023, leading up to the fourth chapter - strictly self-titled and faithful in its artwork.

Does an American Football album still make sense today? For anyone wondering, listening to what the four of them offer, the answer can only be yes. Yes, because Kinsella and co. know perfectly well how to adapt their blend of music and words to the disenchantment of adulthood, partly renewing their approach and form. The intense dialogue between the guitars, their interplay resolved with the usual fluidity and sustained by rhythms poised between math and jazz, still form the foundation of everything. Mike's voice keeps its aching delivery and the lyrics revolve around the same old concerns. And yet the mood is darker, the production - shared with Sonny DiPerri, who counts among his credits collaborations with Trent Reznor, My Bloody Valentine and Suzanne Ciani - meticulously polished in every detail. Even the songwriting process itself is developed differently, with the tracks already fully formed before entering the studio, to help refine them.

Emblematic of this new course is the opener "Man Overboard", its drums advancing unevenly while the sound emerges as dark as the words ("God never taught me how to swim/ Just how to sink"), with the guitars gradually gaining ground until exploding into an abrasive finale. The same goes for "Bad Moons", certainly the album's peak, a track born from the fusion of two demos that combines an airy first part, with a light melody, with a second section inclined toward deep despair ("I held my breath in the dark/ I welcomed death in the dark/ I slit my wrists in the dark/ I didn't exist in the dark until I found you in the dark"), culminating in a swelling, shoegaze-style instrumental saturation.

This is an album that doesn't seek compromise and tries to take risks. That's clear from the pop attitude of "Blood On My Blood" (featuring Caithlin De Marrais of Rainer Maria) to the (perhaps too crowd-pleasing?) dreamy take of "Wake Her Up" (with rising star Wisp on guest vocals). It's also evident in the choice to insert interludes to break the tension and catch a breath (the melancholic "The One With The Piano" and "Lullabye") and to push toward a vaguely dissonant post-rock on "Patron Saint Of Pale". The guest features, a strong point of "LP3", are here what lands least effectively, with the exception of the one with Brendan Yates of Turnstile on the ethereal, finely crafted emo of "No Feeling".

Plenty of strengths and only a few dips in intensity for an album, intimate above all in its closing section, that offers itself with disarming sincerity, recounting the present of an adventure that hasn't yet reached its end. It may take a while longer, but it will probably always be worth the wait.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

23/05/2026