The American Analog Set – The Fun Of Watching Fireworks

The debut full-length from The American Analog Set is a quietly arresting collection of slowcore and minimalist post-rock that feels like it was made for solitary late nights and dim rooms. Rather than build songs through big climaxes or overt hooks, the band constructs them through repetition, texture, and subtle changes in mood. Warm analog tape hiss, vintage organ drones, and gently strummed guitars form the foundation for these songs, while Andrew Kenny’s hushed vocals drift in and out like thoughts barely spoken aloud. There's a hypnotic quality throughout — each track feels like it's in no rush to get anywhere, inviting the listener to slow down and simply exist inside its loops.

Emerging from Austin, Texas in the mid-90s, AmAnSet was something of a gentle outlier — more meditative than their indie rock peers, more structured than ambient artists, yet sharing DNA with both. The Fun of Watching Fireworks set the tone for their aesthetic: deeply DIY, emotionally restrained but richly atmospheric, and rooted in the power of subtlety. It’s a record that values mood above momentum, and over time, its quiet intensity becomes its greatest strength.

Reviews

“It’s rare to hear a band so comfortable living in the quiet spaces between notes… Fireworks feels like a private conversation you’re lucky to overhear.” — Pitchfork

“A testament to restraint and atmosphere. It doesn’t try to impress—it hypnotizes.” — AllMusic

“Each track glows like a candle at dusk—subtle, flickering, beautiful.” — Tiny Mix Tapes

“A warm bath of tape hiss and vintage organ loops. Dreamy and disarming.” — PopMatters