ZapTown

American Analog Set
The Fun Of Watching Fireworks
1996 – Emperor Jones

Origin: Austin, Texas
Style: Space Rock, Indie Pop, Dream Pop

On their debut release, American Analog Set had a completely different agenda than the blissful pop style that dominated most of their career. This album became a silent winner of the late ’90s and propelled the Austin-based band into the 21st Century as gentle indie giants. Although not drifting too far from their later sound construction, The Fun Of Watching Fireworks builds upon a long, drawn-out series of droney jams that are simple and elegant; a My Bloody Valentine in reverse.

Amanset has divulged on the concept of the anti-album. There are no songs that stand out, no singles, even though there are moments that come to the forefront. An album like this must be treated as a whole in order to understand the full intentions of the band, where it is not so apparent where one song ends and the next begins. The album meanders on flawlessly like a road trip, building experience upon experience with no real destination in site. There is no build up. the sometimes monotonous, sometimes repetitive sound actually does wonders to this album as guitars softly orbit around a farfisa. And the album ends just as easy as it began.

It was a concept that caught the attention of people like Option who had this to say: “…this group does slow better than many, effectively mixing and matching instrumentation without sounding desperate for novelty” (January/February, 1997, p. 75). It blew Alternative Press away by giving it a four out of five stars: “The American Analog Set do what many of the latest swarm of space rockers cannot: They craft beautiful songs and then layer them in waves of soothing effects…” (January 1997, p. 64).

Amanset did a brilliant job at making each song flow into each other, sometimes drifting off into elongated yet structured jams but always coming back to quaint dream pop numbers much like Book Of Love, if they were more interested in the sound of The Fairport Convention.

Built upon the constraints of a rock opera without a direct conscience of being one, The Fun Of Watching Fireworks is what it is, delicate songs that flow freely as the listener sits back and soaks up the view. The lushness and elegance will keep the attention of dreamy-eyed listeners who like to dust off their Galaxie 500 box set or revisit Stereolab’s earlier work.

This is the basis for the band, and a firm one that established them in the indie scene as the album remains to have a strong presence on the Internet that people still gravitate toward.

Cross-Reference: Book Of Love, Stereolab, Galaxie 500