American Motors’ debut LP Content embodies the sonic collision of post-rock and post punk minimalism and physicality, reflecting the decay and reinvention of modern life.
The duo, Dustin White and Alex Steward, came together in 2023 with a mission to add a new “post” to the genres of punk, post-punk, and shoegaze that shaped their generation. Their music is both a catharsis and an intricate meditation, recorded by J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines) and released by Expert Work Records (Columbia, MO) and The Ghost Is Clear Records (Kansas City, MO).
Formed through a shared love of early Swans and the desire to create physical, heavy music, American Motors offers a soundtrack for those chasing DIY ideals while facing a world in decline.
The songs on Content reflect the mundane turning mythical, where forgotten malls, dive bars, and bowling alleys become settings for existential reflection. Throughout the album, they explore a push-and-pull between working-class grit and ambient minimalism, crafting moments of raw power and hypnotic atmosphere.
Their debut tracks capture these contrasts, from the crushing rhythms that echo societal decay to the ethereal guitar work that suggests glimmers of hope amidst the ruins.
Today, we celebrate the recent release of the album with the full track-by-track commentary from American Motors to explore the stories and inspiration behind each song on Content.
The album is a co-release between Expert Work Records and The Ghost Is Clear Records, with a limited pressing of 300 copies (EW021/TGIC144).
AMERICAN MOTORS dates:
Thursday October 10th- Columbus, OH- Cafe Bourbon St.
Friday October 11th- Cleveland, OH- The Little Rose Tavern
Saturday October 12th- Dunbar, WV- Live At The Shop
Track by track commentary:
Colonial Lanes
Have you ever been invited by a cocktail waitress to a lingerie show in a bar in the back of a bowling alley? If so did the name of that bar reference the Revolutionary War? In songwriting, like real estate, the three most important things are location, location, location. So some things may have been moved from where they occurred for a more linear narrative.
There was a bar in Koreatown in LA that I liked to day drink at that had an O’Douls sign on the wall. It always felt like it was there as the last line of defense for somebody in recovery. They would be there, belly up to the bar, about to order a drink. Their demons winning. When suddenly they see that neon sign on the wall glowing like an angel and just order an O’Douls and left.
This was the first song we finished for this record. It was a lengthy series of reductions. In the end I barely played guitar on it. Opening the record with some kick hits and snare flams just feels right.
(A Billboard Reading) Dissolve Jefferson
For years there was a billboard on the edge of Jefferson that simply read “Dissolve Jefferson” for all who passed by to enjoy. The idea of buying a billboard as a means of protest is top shelf. Sadly almost everything that made Jefferson buck wild (and would warrant its dissolution) is gone now, but for awhile it was a very unique little two miles of road. Pour one out for the El Rancho Inn, Crazy Mitch’s, and Smiley’s Lounge. City Hall was a strip club that had been shut down for tax evasion, like the good lord intended. Also please don’t sue us Garth.
This might actually be my favorite one. That’s all guitar making that giant pad. I feel like this song best illustrates my platonic ideal of the “what if a guitar was a new age tape” vibe I’ve been chasing. See also: Blame it all on my ‘gaze roots.
Tamarack
Named in honor of the most glorious rest stop along the I-64 corridor. I know technically the whole rest area isn’t named that, but whatever man everything is fluid. The Greyhound station near Tamarack in Beckley was an amazing place. A a trailer on top of a hill with a small counter to order some food while you were waiting. Everybody in a state of flux. Sort of like a Waffle House in a trailer full of tired people.
Now most Greyhound stops are just the parking lot of a Pilot or a Love’s. At least when Love’s bought the truck stop I worked as a teen at they didn’t destroy the Paul Bunyan and Babe statue. That feels like a minor victory.
This is the hardest song of this bunch for all of us to play. I’m not sure why. Sometimes it do be like that. Sometimes you just pretend to be Zevon as best you can and forget you have to also play guitar while doing that (cuz you aint got no Waddy to call).
Three Crosses
If you grew up in Appalachia chances are you know Coffindaffer Crosses, even if you don’t know them by name. In West Virginia they are even more prevalent as they litter the landscape along I-79 and I-64 and the hillsides that lead to those “great roads”. Most are languishing. The paint is chipping away. Weeds have started to engulf them. The land is reclaiming them. When I was kid they were in much better shape.
There were some that overlooked my cousins’ house atop a hill in Sissonsville. They always looked super ominous to me. Right across the street from my cousins’ house was a school that was the location of a fairly notorious piece of 80s “Satanic Panic” wildness, which happened in the shadow of the same set of Coffindaffer Crosses.
For roughly three minutes the bass hits technically only one note. Over and over. An exercise in repetition. It’s a weird physical challenge to do despite sounding insanely simple.
Former Mall Anchor Store Call Center Blues
I swear I tried my hardest to throw a reference to a dialysis center into this one. Do you know how hard dialysis center is to sing? Just phonetically. It’s weird. Try it. Maybe next record we can try something that’s like the hip jam “Tequila” but with “dialysis center” as what you yell at the appropriate time. I think some drive time morning DJ could really latch onto that if those still exist. I don’t know if they do. I’m a 40 year dude that makes music that sounds like this so obviously I listen to NPR in the morning while feeding cats.
If it was all up to me that intro noise guitar song would go on for 30 minutes. Regardless I love the structure of this song.
A Half Finished Wall Of Glass Blocks
Certain things come to represent periods of time in your life. Other things come to represent how futile more or less everything is. It’s nice when the two can merge. A friend had an apartment that had more people living in it than there were bedrooms for, as one does when they have just graduated into their 20s. So he started building a wall of glass blocks. The sort you often see in bathrooms as they let light in but you can’t really see thru.
He never finished it. It just existed there. Half separating the space. Half being a monument to unfinished business. Also bikers ran a speakeasy out of the front of the building. Now it’s a restored to its former grandeur and registered historic site. Not for that bit of history. Nor for the ska band that practiced there either. Nor for the time we watched Type O Negative workout in the alley it overlooked. The more things change the more they stay the same.
Really love the sputtery gated guitar sounds in this one.
There Is A Twin
Honestly I advise everyone to get invited via AIM to a Mexican restaurant on the border of Kentucky and West Virginia. It’s truly a beautiful location to enjoy a snowstorm. Honestly it’s pretty gorgeous around there in general. Most borders are since they are all made up. Also nobody should go swimming in the Ohio River in Huntington. I’m not sure which way the river flows (I’m not looking it up) but that’s super close to where it meets with the Kanawha so I can just assume you’ve got a lot of Chemical Valley runoff nasty shit going on there.
The most straight ahead rocker of the bunch with the least composited together narrative. When I first played this riff I heard it way way different than Alex did but as soon as he started playing against it like that I was overjoyed.
Statues
First watch “Playtime” by Jacques Tati and then immediately go to the nearest minimal coffee shop. Then realize that “Playtime” was made in 1967 and hang your head in dismay about just how right he was. One morning while recording this record we went to a coffee shop and had a moment that could be straight out of this movie. So here I am now typing this
This is the only song that had serious revisions while we were in the studio. We had all the bones. They worked. There just was something amiss when we were listening to playback in the studio. So I had to rework all the guitars. The end result was the correct path forward and allow me to publicly thank J for helping to guide our hand to this. Trying to turn the two intertwined guitar parts into one playable part is my current physical challenge. Which is only made harder by the fact that one guitar is in a Sonic Youth derived tuning with, like most turnings derived from Sonic Youth, a heavy emphasis on unison strings. I invite you to watch me struggle with this in a live setting.
The lineup for American Motors includes Dustin Travis White on guitar and vocals, Alex Steward on drums, and Brad Williams on bass.
