Know by Heart
Know by Heartis an apt title for the fourth album by the American Analog Set. Often practitioners of the art of "futuristic" music usually make one crucial mistake: in their quest to replicate the synthetic sheen of a dark, mechanical tomorrow, they often end up completely obliterating every trace of humanity. Fortunately, Texan new wave rockers the American Analog Set are wise to this: the sleeve toKnow by Heart--featuring two guitar leads, loosely coiled into a heart shape--smartly points out that there's a very human warmth in the depths of this circuitry. As it happens, for the most part,Know by Heartis a pretty relaxed take on rock experimentalism: AAF seem intrigued by the prospect of crafting pretty nuggets of tune out of the most atypical building blocks--drone, repetition, feedback, and a studied and a largely successful restraint. The studiedmotorikof "Like Foxes Through Fences" recalls--and betters--the design of Brit experimentalists Appliance, while on the beautiful but uncharacteristically named "Punk as Fuck," the band crafts a post-rock love song out of chiming guitars and velvety instrumental harmonies. The American Analog Set succeed because they put the songs--and a whole lotta love--right at the center of their design. It's far from the stuff of a dark future, but frankly, more bands should follow their lead.--Louis Pattison