American Authors - "Best Night of My Life"

It's not the best *anything* of mine

Alt/Pop Rock outfit American Authors are back with their fourth album, Best Night of My Life. And yes, this is clearly a callback to the hit single, “Best Day of My Life”, from their debut album, 2014’s Oh, What a Life. If you think you don’t know that song…yes, you do. Click the link.

Best Night of My Life is, to be blunt, an uninspired travesty. There are only ten songs, and the whole thing lasts only 27 minutes. But, man, this one was rough. It wants to emulate that single so bad. James Adam Shelley left the band in 2021, but the banjo and mandolin, which Shelley played, were a signature element of their early success, so it’s been shoehorned into this new album, despite that they’re down to three members.

Frankly, I’m only halfway through my second listen as I write this, and I don’t want to finish. “Same Bed” actually isn’t bad, but the majority of tracks feel basic and bland. No amount of clapping or rhythmic strumming is going to fix this.

This is actually the first album that I missed earlier this year (it released Feb 10, 2023) and caught thanks to my audit. But this album will get them nixed from said list out of pure regret.

Rating: Red