American Football

Product Information

Frontman Mike Kinsella previously played in Chicago-based bands Cap'n Jazz and Joan of Arc alongside his brother Tim. [4] Mike played drums for both bands. [2] In 1997 Kinsella started The One Up Downstairs, [2] whose line-up consisted of Allen Johnson on bass, Steve Lamos on drums, David Johnson on guitar, and Kinsella himself on vocals. [5] The One Up Downstairs recorded three songs that were planned for a 7" vinyl release by Polyvinyl. [2] However, the band broke up before it was pressed, thus the record was shelved. [2] [nb 1] Shortly afterwards, Lamos was jamming with guitarist Steve Holmes, [6] who was Kinsella's college roommate. [7] [nb 2] Kinsella thought he "could add something", [6] resulting in the trio forming American Football. [9] The band got their name from a poster that Lamos' girlfriend had spotted. [7] The poster read, "Come see American Football, the most overpaid athletes in the world." [7]

a b DeVille, Chris (April 8, 2014). "American Football – "The 7's" (Live At The Blind Pig '97) (Stereogum Premiere)". Stereogum. Archived from the original on June 17, 2015 . Retrieved June 15, 2015. American Football (known colloquially as LP3, as all the band’s studio albums are self-titled) awakens with microscopic bell chimes and shudders of vibraphone as the seven minutes of “Silhouettes” swaddle the band’s guitar lattices in reverb and glitter-gray exhaust. It’s Steve Reich reincarnated as a tinny iPhone alarm on lead singer Mike Kinsella’s nightstand, going off after a sleepless night. “Oh, the muscle memory it must take to stay,” Kinsella sings, a sharp turn from the typical American Football song where ex-lovers wistfully stare into a Midwestern autumn sunset, or his work with the band Owen, where he’s staring down an Old Style at last call. And yet, a line like, “Tell me again what’s the allure of inconsequential love,” speaks to the pull of having at least felt something, an escape from the mundanity that creeps into any love of consequence. Greatest Emo Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 31, 2017 . Retrieved March 4, 2018. I feel like the second album was us figuring it out,’ says Nate. ‘For me, it wasn’t quite done. I knew there was still more.’ The house on the artwork, located on 704 W. High St in Urbana, Illinois, is within walking distance of the University of Illinois. [17] [18] Photography was done by Chris Strong and was designed by Strong and Suraiya Nathani. [16] None of the band members lived in the house; according to Kinsella, "it was friends of friends" who lived in the house when they went to college. [13] Joe Goggins, writing for The Line of Best Fit, wrote that "Like all the best cover shots," the photo symbolizes "the music it prefaces in such an intangible, elusive way". [13] Also noting that the album " sounds like it could only have been made in small-town America," and that the cover art " looks as if it could only really have been taken in similar surroundings." [13] The house became a landmark for emo music fans, who often visit the house to take photos. Music journalist Sean Neumann, who documented the history of the house for Vice, noted that fans have carved markings into the sidewalk in front of the home where Strong took the original photograph. [17] The house would later take a leading position in the band's reunion, [13] and the interior of the house later used for the cover of their eponymous second album. Kinsella revealed that the repeated references to the house was due to the fact it was one of the few images related to the band. [13] [nb 3]

Tracklist

Cohen, Ian (May 21, 2014). "American Football - American Football". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on October 17, 2017. Rettig, James (January 12, 2015). "The American Football House In Champaign-Urbana Is Available For Rent This Summer". Stereogum. Archived from the original on June 15, 2015 . Retrieved June 15, 2015. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Gormely, Ian (May 6, 2014). "Tim & Mike Kinsella". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on June 15, 2015 . Retrieved June 15, 2015. Enter American Football (LP3). ‘We put a lot of time and a lot of energy into it,’ says Mike. ‘We were all thoughtful about what we wanted to put out there. Last time, it was figuring out how to use all of our different arms. This time, we were like – Ok we have these arms, let’s use them.’ The band used the same producer, Jason Cupp, and recorded the album at the same studio (Arc Studios in Omaha, Nebraska) as its predecessor – yet they approached it in a markedly different way. There was a determination to let the songs breathe, to trust in ideas finding their own pace. The final result is a definite, and deliberate, stretching of the band.

Adams, Gregory (December 24, 2014). "American Football "Never Meant" (live video)". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on June 15, 2015 . Retrieved June 15, 2015. Somewhere along the way we moved from being a reunion band to just being a band,’ says Steve Holmes. American Football is now a bona fide ongoing focus, and they are making some of the best music of their lives. American Football (LP3) stands with two other rare reunion successes – Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine’s mbv – as a fine example of how a band refinding one another can augment, rather than taint, their legacy. In the 15 years since its release, American Football's self-titled debut full-length has quietly become one of the most fiercely beloved titles in the Polyvinyl catalog. Though the trio -- Mike Kinsella (Cap'n Jazz, Owen, Owls), Steve Lamos, and Steve Holmes -- only played a few shows and released just one other record (a three-song EP that preceded this full-length), their influence and legacy has steadily continued to grow in the time after they disbanded.Anthony, David (May 20, 2014). "Review: 15 years on, American Football's lone LP gets a face-lift". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on February 2, 2015 . Retrieved May 17, 2015.