Hey Marcus, aren’t you excited to finally review a real nü metal band?

Cant wait! #staynüstaytrü

::insert Creed gif here::

Very excited for the new record by this Limp Bizkit cover band. I haven’t seen one of those since nü made a comeback in Lelystad in the early ’10s

Real ones know that nü never left

The nüstalgia is strong.

Wait.

Wait.

I’ve seen American Thrills. They’re not a nü band.

No wonder they sound like the Gaslight Anthem, gaslighting us on nü.

Afaik, their Bizkit cover set we haven’t seen yet (next year @ Fest since its cover show szn and whatnot?)

Make it happen!

~ Sinking ~

And we’re off!

Gotta love how consistent this band is with their melodies. If you’re reading this and never heard of them before, it’s more nostalgia than nüstalgia.

They’ve got the unique quality of a band for whom you’re hearing for the first time, feels like you’ve heard them before but that’s more a function of how catchy and inviting their sound is.

Yeah, it’s a band that feels like home. I know the main criticism I heard is “all their songs are the same about the same subject”

This “let it burn to me alive” part probably is really solid live if they get the same nostalgic anger behind it as on this record.

Very opener-y, that track.

But we’re older and if nostalgia is their main subject, that means they’re older and settled and happy

And it’s relatable, even if not reinventing the wheel. Credit where credit due on crafting good songs.

~ Misfires ~

This song has been out for a while as a single. It’s one of my favorites.

It’s incredibly catchy and again, is about the nostalgia.

Yeahhhhh, really like this song

Lyrics here super relatable

A series of misfires diagnosed when you were young. It me hah

I couldn’t figure out the lyrics until I saw the song live. I couldn’t figure out how “a series of misfires and ghosts when you were young” made sense. It’s diagnosed. Not ghosts. Oops.

I think I just played this on loop a zillion times so eventually caught on to me

~ Alive and Well ~

I think this was also a single, but I may be wrong

Was wondering if it was a re-release

It’s a bit less catchy than the other two tracks so far and a bit more storytelling. Look, would it surprise anyone if I say it sounds like it’s about nostalgia?

And how that fits into the now.

Definitely more storytelling seems to me as well

“Now I wonder do I cross your mind, maybe sometimes when you spin that record” absolutely is a feeling I’ve had about people I grew up with.

I wonder if my friends back then sometimes still think of me. Find those songs and go “ha, I remember Maaike”

Hahah, something comes up with people I came across often in my mid/late 20s. Because guess that was my growing up

~ Ivy League Swing ~

“It’s all your fault, the way that things went wrong” opens the song as an echo, before kicking into the catchiness of yet another song that was a single.

Would love to have the lyrics for this, but just gotta listen a dozen more times 😅

I know people who went to Ivy League schools but to me it’s also some weird American movie thing. I suppose living in Connecticut is is a more real thing creating a social divide.

Haha or Gilmore Girls*

(and Yale is in New Haven, CT afaik)

Like I said, American movie thing. Series are just a lot of short movies.

Hahah true that!

~ Blue Collar ~

From Ivy League to Blue Collar, they’re casting a wide net.

Song about parents? Song about growing up yourself?

Song about both?

Hm! Somewhere in the middle imo. I can imagine this from the perspective of a parent getting older and in their age and failing health reflecting on the good ol days when those are far gone

Seeing yourself grow into your parents, but also seeing the unhappiness of the life your parents lived, and noticing that from your own perspective.

And the paths where it diverged – not wanting the same path, but understanding the love of the path they took. Once again a song where I’d love the lyrics of, and such a solid track

But thats just our interpretation

~ Interpretation ~

Ahah

Ah it’s the middle of record acoustic jam.

The Side B of the vinyl 😉

It’s got a record closing vibe as well.

That too!

Definitely the most melancholic track we’ve heard so far in terms of mood

But you’re right, it makes sense as the opener of the B side. Sometimes I forget you can plan for that in your track list.

“We were like strangers when we could have been brothers”

Similar upbringing, different paths and choices along the way

As Friends Rust – Won’t be the Last Time has a similar message. Completely different sound, but I would put these songs in a playlist together

Definitely vibes of walking around your neighborhood on a cloudy day and reflecting heavy about life

~ Maybe You Were Right About Me ~

I think as an immigrant, I tend to be more prone to nostalgia than I should be, so it’s why I really love this band.

Didn’t this song have a different name?

Nah, not to my knowledge

It was a single tho!

Yeah, I definitely remember being very hungover and having it on repeat because I was too tired to change the song.

Guess I never really looked at the title

I really vibe with that chorus from the last year, on a personal note

This may be one of my other favorite tracks on the record. It’s got a good singalong value, it’s got the melodies, and it’s got the top-tier “I miss what it was like” nostalgia.

Definitely one of our faves

American Thrills is such an interesting band. They’re the most radio friendly band in our small circle of Music Dies Here befriended bands, but we love them for it

“It always a shame to see the good ones go but it’s so hard to let it go” (paraphrasing-ish)

Yuuuuuuuuuuup.

~ Broadcasting ~

Did they record this intro in a echoing bathroom?

Okay it was on purpose.

They broke into the studio Gaslight Anthem recorded 59 sound

As someone who grew up in a small town, look, I will always be a sucker for songs that understand the struggle.

Barstools…ok, y’all have my ears

As someone whos always lived in a city, I feel this woulda been a song I listened to while drifting from bar to bar, from social circle to social circle on a hoodie-weather kind of night

The lyrics sound like something I could’ve written when I was in my early 20’s. Outside the music – I still cant write music. I definitely used small town, prison, barstools, lust and satellites in a lot of things I wrote.

I wrote a lot of “these small town stars shine on big city dreams”-esque stuff.

Ayyy, yeah, I think I wrote about becoming/feeling a ghost in said big city, drifting from haunt to haunt, drinking and leaving as little a trace as I could haha

Though the message is very much true to the band, the sound is a bit further from the rest of the record. There’s a bit more edge to the music and mix, or is it just me?

On this song specifically?

Yeah

Hm. I don’t know, honestly. Not sure if I caught anything different re: mixing

Probably just me.

Reasons I’m not a real music journalist, haha.

Reasons we’re not real music journalists*

~ Ego Death ~

We should write the rules for the drinking game of this record.

American Thrills bingo drinking game LFGGG

Shot when they mention their father. Shot when they mention working their fingers to the bone. Shot when they mention high school. Beer when they mention drinking. Another beer when they mention memories

Kind of like our conversations but finely articulated thru music and lyrics

This song is the ultimate American Thrills song because they mention all of their clichés!

And I love the clichés, this isn’t a judgement

Seconding this as emphatically as possible. Relatable is relatable.

Oh we need to write a drinking game for our Drinkscussions as well, yes.

That was the least closing track track I’ve heard in a while. I fully expected another song, but nope. I guess the accumulation of all subjects was the closing.

Haha yeah, when I was listening to this album during the week, that track being the last one and just ending the album was kinda jarring 😅

I like this record. It’ll probably get quite a few spins when I feel nostalgic and ponder on about how I have had lives in different countries with people who never met and likely never will.

Alright so last thought I got about the album, strikes me as a great album to grill stuff in the backyard under a summer night’s sky with beers, dogs, and good tunes/good times.

Bring back summer and bring back nostalgia!

NÜSTALGIA YERRRRRRR


American Thrills might not be a nü-metal band, but don’t let that stop you from listening to them. Their record isn’t on their Bandcamp yet, so here is Spotify.

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