Texas quintet sets itself free
American Analog Set quits touring But makes one last stop in Toronto
For a band that’s been around for a decade, the American Analog Set is currently experiencing an odd renaissance. The Texasbred quintet became the first American act signed to rising local indie label Arts & Crafts this summer and released their sixth album, Set Free, after its long and difficult birth. Most bands in this position would jump at the opportunity to capitalize on the momentum, but American Analog Set has never been like most bands.
Instead of trying to get one of their dreamy, hazy tracks on an episode of The O. C., or spending their time trying to figure out how to become the next Death Cab for Cutie, AAS decided to pull the plug on touring.
“( The band has) always been something we’ve done out of friendship. In the process of putting together Set Free, we realized we were going to do a glut of touring for this record. We’re just amazed that we still like doing this — it just seemed like a good time to stop touring,” principal songwriter Andrew Kenny explains over the line from his home in New York.
“ I don’t want to be one of those clichéd bands that fight or break up on the road. I just want to take a victory lap, and have that be how we remember that stage of the band,” he adds. Over the course of its career, AAS has seen members come and go as well as relocate across the U. S., making it a challenge to craft records, let alone undertake a major tour. They have been pretty much everywhere, including Toronto three times: “ It’s one of those cities that we really look forward to going to.”
That the band even survived the making of Set Free is in itself a minor miracle. They had hoped to complete it in a few months, but kept running into dead-ends at various studios until a sound engineer friend from the Austin, Tex., scene invited them to finish up the album at his new studio in Missouri. A year after they first started rolling tape, the record was finally completed, though it didn’t hit store shelves until this past August.
Since they’d weathered all sorts of storms, news of the end of AAS’ touring days came as a surprise to both their old fans and those hearing of them thanks to Arts & Crafts’ buzz. Influential indie-rock website Pitchforkmedia even jumped the gun by mistakenly posting that the band had broken up.
“ We were on the road at the time and weren’t really aware of it at all,” Kenny says, laughing. “ Pitchfork has become this selfpropelling force, kind of like the U. S. government. I personally enjoy it, but I think you need to take it with a grain of salt. I kind of see it as a little bit of a mirror, and a little bit of a megaphone.” But just because this is their last tour (Kenny wryly notes that all their current North American dates have been selling out) doesn’t mean AAS is calling it quits. The band hopes to put out more of their hushed, melodic music in the future, including a forthcoming compilation of singles and rarities.
“ I’d like to think it was some sort of artistic integrity, but we’re just too dumb to break up,” Kenny quips about the band’s longevity in the oftenfickle indie scene. “ I think that’s one of the most romantic and appealing things about us — we’ve remained small and managed to stay together for a very long time, and that’s important.
“I love our band, I’m really proud of the music that we make. Every song is like a page of a scrapbook that we’ve created. But I know that we’re a niche kind of band. No one’s gonna break the American Analog Set —‘ Oh, my God, if we could only get them on Conan . . .’ We’re not interested in changing the way we sound to try to fit into some sort of box. But that’s okay, we’re just going to switch gears again and do something different.” Just the facts Who: American Analog Set, with Shawn Hewitt Where: Horseshoe Tavern When: Sunday @ 9 p.m. Tickets: $12 @ Ticketmaster, Rotate This, Soundscapes