American Football [LP1]

Considering the incredible appeal of American Football's debut single with Polyvinyl, it was quite easy to expect great things from their first album -- tracks like "The One with the Tambourine" took Mike Kinsella far beyond his emo roots, into beautiful territory that had more in common with Red House Painters than Cap'n Jazz. American Football, the group's album debut, may not hit quite the same heights, but it comes close enough that no one should be bothered; Mike Kinsella treads the same brightly arpeggiated post-emo (to coin a phrase) territory his brother Tim Kinsella does with Joan of Arc (albeit without the abstraction). The obvious progression from the Polyvinyl single comes in the form of horns and Wurlizter dabbed tastefully onto a few tracks; when the band picks up into more conventionally driving territory ("Honestly?"), things are still appealing -- but Kinsella's main strength seems to be in drifting, floating waves of melody, and American Football makes good on this in a pretty impressive way. ~ Nitsuh Abebe