Rating: NNN
The fifth full-length release from Austin’s American Analog Set (and their first for our own Arts & Crafts), Set Free has the same thing going for it that the Wonder Years did — namely, the ability to capture the slings and arrows of suburban adolescence through a Vaselined lens of hindsight. It’s not that the crushes and heartbreaks sting any less, just that guitarist/ vocalist Andrew Kenny sings about them with the bittersweet resignation of a dude remembering Big Love years down the line. His breathy voice floats on AmAnSet’s characteristic aesthetic: one-two-three-and-four-and acoustic strum, brushed drums and vibes. Set Free is more about evoking mood than it is about mind-blowing songwriting, and the album drags through a monotonous midsection. Still, the standout tracks — Born On The Cusp, Cool Kids Keep and Play Hurt — get teen bewilderment dead-on, from having your heart squashed by someone else’s girlfriend to sneering at the popular clones who snub you.
