American Football – ‘American Football (LP4)’ review: It’s only up from here
Midwest emo conjures up a relatively straightforward image. Downstroke guitar rhythms, rolling drums and a painful yearning in the chorus line. It’s actually become a bit of a joke in recent times, often used to describe the pangs of teenage angst. But on American Football’s most recent effort, American Football’ (LP4), there’s nothing juvenile or funny about it.
The Skinny: The tempo is rolled right back on this record, like a heartfelt and patient conversation. The pain is clearly bleeding out of frontman Mike Kinsella, who grapples with a host of very real life issues on the record: divorce, addiction and even intra-band differences crop up and so the worlds of midwest and emo feel distinctly far away.
Instead, Kinsella leads the band through a world of dry expanse. Right from the outset, with ‘Man Overboard’ there’s a heaviness to this environment, where introspection and suffocation exist hand in hand. But embracing the 360 nature of the record’s reality brings catharsis that slowly unveils through the course of the record.
The dissonance of the drums makes way for textural realisations on the record, be it the vibraphone, synthesisers or trumpets, there is a feeling that with every song you’re burrowing deeper into the sonic world created by the band and seeing a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, that seemed pretty deep at the beginning. ‘Bad Moons’ kick starts this process which ultimately bleeds right through to the B-side, which gets better with every song.
The dark reflection continues in the lyrics, however, “I’ve a morbid fascination / with trauma that I can’t mend” Kinsella sings on ‘Wake Her Up’, while closing track ‘No Soul To Save’ has Kinsella telling the audience “Now, for my next trick / you can watch me disappear.”
Without the wider context, it’s uncomfortable in its brutal honesty and darkness. But those lyrics thread through a wider narrative that exists in the record and paints a much wider picture that is still laced with hope. Not to mention the clever way that the music offsets it all. The ambition and atmosphere of the record feels transcendent in a way that encourages you to wallow in the melancholy but find some beauty in it too.
Standout Track: ‘Desdemona’
The Verdict: If the modern world has taught us anything, it’s that there is beauty in the darkness. It has proven that sometimes you’ve got to bottom out to truly experience the vitality of hope and American Football’ (LP4) takes you on that journey. Bleakness and brightness battle with one another throughout, to make a record that subtly fills you with optimism, against all odds.
Release Date: May 1st, 2025 | Producer: Sonny DiPerri | Label: Polyvinyl
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