The guitars fade in, as if to pick up where they left off, or to suggest that they’d never stopped twinkling. “Where are we now?” Mike Kinsella sings, his voice a little worn, but softened like suede. “We’re both home alone in the same house / Would you even know me if I wasn’t old me? / If I wasn’t afraid to say what I mean?” Just like that, 17 years after its eponymous debut, American Football returns from whence it came, with even the same house featured on the album cover. the key to a successful reunion album is to recognize what originally made the band great, while simultaneously acknowledging that times have changed. American Football knows its soul and stretches out into poppier and more atmospheric gestures in tracks like the acoustic-led soft-rocker “Home Is Where The Haunt Is” or the waltzing “I Need A Drink (Or Two, Or Three),” which glistens with Volcano Choir-like oohs and ahhs. But the most impressive marriage of the old and the new is “Give Me The Gun,” which gets built up from the bass and Lamos’ breathtaking drum work as a gently struck vibraphone, ambient guitar and Mike Kinsella’s voice float atop,
“Desire Gets in the Way” is taken from American Football’s new album, American Football, out 10/21/2016
The Fat Angel Sings 