American Analog Set: Set Free : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

The American Analog set could be the quintessential mid-Nineties indie-rock band: Smart and a little self-indulgent, the Austin quintet nearly perfected the art of making earnest, whispery ambient rock, and can be credited with paving the way for Death Cab for Cutie, among others. Eerily, AAS sound almost the same as they did when they released their first album, in 1996. Their latest disc, Set Free, like most of their catalog, works best as background (i.e., make-out) music; focus on it too much, and it'll put you to sleep faster than a handful of Halcion.

A few gems rise above the white noise: The opening track, "Born on the Cusp," satisfies with well-executed harmonies and a vaguely Belle and Sebastian-esque sparkle. And on "She's Half," a ballad about a part-Japanese girl in a tiny Midwestern town, singer Andrew Kenny's lovely voice pokes its head above the narcotic din, allowing the poignant narrative to unfold in tandem with the echoey guitar melody.