American Football
A sublime band returns to help us all cope
Not every article every day can be about healthcare. American Football is a band whose first album, eponymously titled, was released in 1999. They formed in Urbana, Illinois, in 1997. It’s math rock and very emo all at once. They clearly could have stepped on a distortion pedal and rocked out…but never do. I’m a huge fan of Rainer Maria, a band on the same Polyvinyl label. Mike Kinsella went on tour with them more than once. He even had a solo project called, yes, “Owen.” This band does a thing better than most—they get the point across that emotions, especially harrowing emotions, are best conveyed with restraint. Music is always how I’ve coped. I even recorded a full-length album at Tiny Telephone in San Fransisco before the pandemic closed this Mission studio down. American Football inspired me more than most.
As for American Football, here’s the band members:
Original Lineup (1997–2000, 2014–Present)
1. Mike Kinsella - Lead vocals, guitar, and bass.
2. Steve Lamos - Drums, trumpet, percussion.
3. Steve Holmes - Guitar.
Yes, trumpet is included.
Their self-titled debut album (American Football, 1999) is a landmark in the emo genre. They reunited in 2014 after a 14-year hiatus and released two more self-titled albums (American Football 2016 and American Football 2019). They got even more relentlessly “emo” (for my older readers, this is short for “emotional hardcore,” aka hardcore punk, but about feelings. Often, this music chose to yell and scream and use distortion. I offer this classic from the aforementioned Rainer Maria’s early days as an example of what was done prior to American Football.
Spoiler alert—it’s screamy. This genre was later dubbed “scream-o.” Historically, punk rock music had been about social change, not emotions, so the conceptual shift in content was significant. Early emo relied on extreme changes in dynamics—very loud, then very soft. It’s a formula that worked for me as a youth. Bands brought us lyrics like: “Goddamnit, I’m not talking about my heart like it’s something you could break.”
American Football kept the emotions in there, which mattered to angsty youth like your author. What they didn’t do was scream. Or get too-too loud. Or turn on a distortion pedal. It was a revelation.
Here are the very feelings lyrics to “Never Meant”…
Let's just forget
Everything said
And everything we did
Best friends and better halves
Goodbyes
And the autumn night
When we realized
We were falling out of love
There were some things
That were said
That weren't meant
But were said
Like we never did
Not to be
Overly
Dramatic
I just think it's best
'Cause you can't miss what you forget
So let's just pretend
Everything and anything
Between you and me
Was never meant
Just short of 20 years later, they kept at it—in a thrilling return to my life. Let’s take a little peek at “My Instincts Are the Enemy” off the “2016 album” (this is just a partial taste of the lyrics):
My instincts are the enemy
I warned you
I've malevolence inside of me
I need you
I wanna taste a little bit of everything
But it gets me in trouble
To fill my plate with the vacant and obscene
With my nerves exposed, I can't say no
I'm paralyzed, engaged in civil war
What can I do?
Either way, I lose
You lose, too
Days are nights and nights are unbearable
What can I do?
Chained to this mood
You're chained to me
That is just a sample. But…it’s a lot of feels. So many feels. Here is the track…
They collaborated with the rapper Boyband, for a song called “Bigface” which is just beyond cool and deeply emo in its own right:
What made me want to write this column? American Football released an album of covers by other bands of their first album. I deeply love this tribute album format. Are you listening, Modest Mouse? It’s got song-by-song covers of an album from 1999, and I love how well it holds up as song craft…
Tomorrow, I will write more about health. Today, I want to celebrate great music choices. Thanks for reading and listening. If you like that music, you might like mine too, available here (this is a cover of Rainer Maria I did in my living room):
Not all things that are therapeutic are therapy. Not all therapies are therapeutic. And sometimes, the best way to handle strong emotions is not to get louder, it's to lean in to quiet. Long live Rock and Roll, or whatever helps you cope.
My worlds are colliding 🫶🏻