Whole books could be written about the significance of Midwest emo band American Football. Recently, however, the core of their influence was summed up on the podcast »Indiecast«: the release of their legendary debut album in 1999 marked the moment »when emo stopped being punk«. That sounds right, because instead of brutal heartbreak choruses and fat major-seventh chords, the record lived from soft arpeggios and delicate sensitivity.
After the band broke up shortly after their debut and only reunited in 2014 – just in time for the peak of that era’s emo revival, which was itself heavily shaped by American Football – their fourth album has now appeared. This unexpected masterpiece has nothing to do with punk either, though for different reasons: in fact, the record sounds closest to modern, accessible progressive rock – with complex structures, carefully worked-out arrangements and a vocal style that recalls Porcupine Tree more than Jimmy Eat World.
American Football 4 is nevertheless deeply emotional, above all because of the lyrics: describing oneself as »two little boys in a trench coat« is an outstanding way of acknowledging one’s own fraudulence. »No feeling, no pain«, it says elsewhere. Ice-cold lie. »Patron Saint of Pale« is moving too, as frontman Mike Kinsella wishes never to have to dance again. So he suggests rock, paper, scissors: »If I win, I’ll never have to dance again.« Musically, it may move in other directions – but nothing is more emo than that.
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