summoning joan of arc's ghost

American football by American football 1999

7/10

I have been known to dabble in Midwest emo, but I've only scraped the surface of the genre since I have friends and whatever.

My first introduction to American football was Never Meant, I like many others have heard this song to death. But despite it being so insanely overplayed I still haven't gotten sick of it, maybe it's only a matter of time till i start getting tired of hearing it but for now i think it speaks to how much of masterpiece it is. The instrumentals are dreamy and entrancing and after hearing that guitar riff, i looked at my guitar and I swear to god i could hear it audibly sigh in disappointment.

But if I had to choose my favourite track, it would be The Summer Ends, let me tell you this was my SHIT last summer. I'm in love with the trumpet sequences (which is also one of my favourite things about the album in general). And in my opinion, this song contains some of the strongest lyrics in the album. They are melancholic and vague, which works in its favour and gives a hazy nostalgic feeling.

As much as I loved this album, it's easier to talk about and listen to as a collective. At times, the tracks sound so similar that they tend to bleed into each other. I can see how that could be enjoyable to someone but for me it really makes hard to re-listen to.

The vague nostalgia and hazy melancholy sound of the album blends the songs together even more. And I think this is mostly a personal issue, but to me, the "sameness" of everything didn't make any tracks stand out from the rest.