American Hi-Fi - The Art of Losing

American Hi-Fi’s new album is looser and livelier than its predecessor—super contemporary, pomo power pop inspired by Cheap Trick, Big Star, the Pixies, the Replacements, and the Goo Goo Dolls circa ‘Superstar Carwash.’ Soaring choruses sandwiched between hard-charging electric guitars and pleasing rock rhythms. Their second album sounds less like a project and more like a band, having ditched the production-heavy feel of their debut for a more band-centric, roll-the-tape-and-play approach.

That’s not to say it’s sloppy. It’s been two years since their debut album, and the band has gelled into a more cohesive, more aggressive sound—big rock that’s a dead ringer for American Hi-Fi’s live show (check out last year’s ‘Live From Tokyo,’ you’ll see what I mean). Stacy Jones has found himself as a vocalist, and producer Nick Launay takes a page from the book of Robert John "Mutt" Lange—think of the sound Lange spent the ‘80s building around everyone from AC/DC to the Cars to Def Leppard to Foreigner.

Matt Parks (March 14, 2003)
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