Uncomfortably Numb
Uncomfortably Numb (American Football, Hayley Williams)
American Football again. Since it’s autumn, you can expect me to cover a lot of Midwest emo right now. As I said before, American Football is a band with legendary status. You might also remember me alluding to a bad record by them. The band started out in 1997 but disbanded almost instantly in 2000 due to the members' getting tied-up with their personal lives. The band was very unpopular, only gaining the critical acclaim they have now in the late 2000s to early 2010s. In 2014, the band returned from their hiatus and released an album in 2016.
Unfortunately, compared to the marvellous feat they accomplished via their first record, LP2 doesn’t come close. While the album does scratch my emo itches, it doesn’t bring a lot new to the table. A lot of what made American Football an amazing band in the first place is still here, but the songs lack the bijou of their first release. The album hints at darker tones but never fully commits. While a complete overhaul wasn’t needed, some change would certainly be welcomed as Kinsella by this time had matured a lot as a songwriter (look up his solo project, Owen). It also made their 1999 release feel like a flash in the pan success.
Mike Kinsella and company did hear the complaints loud and clear and struck the perfect balance in their 2019 release, which was also self-titled but is commonly referred to as LP3. The album benefited from more experimental songwriting, toning down the emo influences for some more jazz, dream pop and more mature songwriting. It doesn’t try to be LP1 all over again. While the sound is manifestly American Football, it sounds fresher and draws some subtle inspiration from shoegaze. The lead single off the album is quite a good representation of that, and today I’ll be talking about that.
Pink Floyd fans would have noticed that the song's title is a reference to "Comfortably Numb". The comparability ends in the name, as the songs are very far apart on the musical spectrum. The song features Hayley Williams of Paramore fame, the crème de la crème of third wave emo vocalists. This track commences with a tight drum groove and a twinkly guitar, instantly transporting you to a dark autumn evening. Steve Holmes' intro guitar incorporates beautiful harmonics, laying down the perfect bed for Mike Kinsella's perfectly syncopated rhythm part to rest on, creating a diaphanous harmony.The syncopation of this guitar adds a lot to the sound, and like the amazing musicians they are, the playing is incredibly tight (Mike is a drummer first and a guitarist second). Compared to most of the songs on this album, the harmony here isn’t incredibly layered, making this much more accessible to the average listener.
This song talks about how confusing life gets as we grow up. Kinsella, in the first verse, talks about how he relates to his father more than ever. His father’s problem with alcoholism caused a lot of tension in their family. He feels deprived of all of his senses and shifts the blame from his father to alcohol. The "uncomfortable" part could be alluding to becoming what you once promised yourself you'd never become; a sad tale of broken promises.The Pink Floyd song describes being numb as a comforting experience, while Mike contrasts this by saying that the numbness just makes the pain being experienced feel harder.
In the second verse, Mike talks more about himself now, having grown up and becoming a father himself. He reflects on how he changed from struggling for himself to now struggling for his two children. While saying all this, we are introduced to Hayley Williams' vocals. Her contribution to the track is limited to some vocal lines. She complements the themes of the song by playing the role of Kinsella’s significant other as she tries to comfort Mike through the wretchedness of being a parent.
The chorus talks about one of my greatest fears. When we’re young, learning lessons from life is easy as we’re the ones facing ramifications for our actions. However, as we grow up, those we care about may be impacted by our actions more than we do, which makes the eventual realisation of the pain you caused harder to deal with. Kinsella talks about this with his significant other as she prays for him to return home to safety, while Kinsella knows this won’t be the last time he’ll be there in the ambulance.
I usually don’t watch music videos, but the one for this song is worth checking out as it is a visual representation of the incident that inspired this song in the first place.
While Mike Kinsella might not have intended the song to be viewed in this light, I’m glad I have music to guide me through the few most important years of life by letting me know that I’m not alone. Growing up is hard, I know it’s weird for a 16 year old to say, but having wasted the past 3 years of my life doing nothing productive makes the realisation of the lost time harder to accept.
"I guess I’ll make new friends in the ambulance."
Thanks a lot for reading and have an amazing day!
P.S: I need suggestions. I don't want this to be an emo dude just writing about American Football tracks. Send something my way and I’ll maybe try my hand at reviewing it.
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