American Nights

American Nights was originally scheduled for a 2014 release by Hollywood Records. During production however, the band had creative disagreements with the label's executives, which led Hollywood to delay the album's release. Lead vocalist Tom Higgenson said of the conflict, "They were pushing for songs that the band wasn't 100 percent on. It was kind of like, 'You don't want us to record this song that everybody loves, but you want us to do this one that one of the five guys don't like at all?' It was a really annoying process."[1] After the album was completed, the band decided to leave Hollywood Records altogether and recut the album according to their vision.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Renowned for Sound	[3]

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted how the band took stabs at replicating Vampire Weekend ("Heavy Rotation") and Mumford & Sons ("Dance Off Time") throughout the album while also "alternating between giddy, gilded AAA pop ("American Nights," "Never Working") and fleet-footed acoustic ditties ("Time to Move On"). He concluded that, "As befitting their plain-Jane name, there's nothing particularly flashy about the pop of Plain White T's, but on American Nights they construct it and execute it as well as they ever have."[2] Andja Curcic of Renowned for Sound felt the record was at odds with itself over its track listing, praising the title track, "Pause" and "Never Working" for their pop-rock/pop-punk elements but found the folk aesthetics of "Dance Off Time" and "Here Comes That Sunrise" oft-putting, saying that "In the end, the tracks don’t fit together and you wonder what the Plain White T’s are trying to achieve." She concluded that, "Though there are decent tracks on the album, I felt quite disappointed because nothing felt as honest and emotional as "Hey There Delilah". The Plain White T’s are really good at pop-rock ballads and I think that is where they should stay."[3]