American Football
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Urbana, Illinois, United States (1997 – 2000)
American Football was an emo band from Urbana, Illinois, United States from 1997 to 2000. The band was formed by guitarist and singer Mike Kinsella (formerly of Cap’n Jazz, Joan Of Arc, Owls and currently of Owen) and drummer Steve Lamos (formerly of The One Up Downstairs and currently of The Geese), and also included guitar player Steve Holmes.
The band had few live performances and disbanded less than a year after releasing their self-titled album; still, they gained critical acclaim for that album, which merged the plain-spoken, confessional lyrics of emo and the varying time signatures of math rock with a softer musical sensibility.
Mike Kinsella explained the band’s name thus:
My girlfriend had been in Dublin, Ireland visiting her family. One of the things she brought home for me was a flyer for a Chicago Bears exhibition game that said: “Come see American Football, featuring the most overpaid athletes in the world.” Something about that statement made me think of rock bands, most of whom are overpaid musicians in the world. When I suggested it as a name, the other guys thought it was dumb. Still, for whatever reason, we kept it.
The band had few live performances and disbanded less than a year after releasing their self-titled album; still, they gained critical acclaim for that album, which merged the plain-spoken, confessional lyrics of emo and the varying time signatures of math rock with a softer musical sensibility.
Mike Kinsella explained the band’s name thus:
My girlfriend had been in Dublin, Ireland visiting her family. One of the things she brought home for me was a flyer for a Chicago Bears exhibition game that said: “Come see American Football, featuring the most overpaid athletes in the world.” Something about that statement made me think of rock bands, most of whom are overpaid musicians in the world. When I suggested it as a name, the other guys thought it was dumb. Still, for whatever reason, we kept it.
Shouts:
837 shouts
Top Albums
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All of Us
American Football
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Shoutbox
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MaritzaPie wrote:
Come back.
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jessem131 wrote:
I can't believe someone falls for that in the shoutbox of literally every band ever.
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bombsxwillxfly wrote:
@Eh just a algernon rip off. Lol, you're an idiot.. American Football was a band way before Algernon.
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yourdemise1 wrote:
This is a great band. [3]
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imsadforyou wrote:
Eh just a algernon rip off.
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nauticalsummer wrote:
Wow. I'm hooked. These guys have made some damn beautiful music.
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ConeyAllen wrote:
There is no other band that will have such a huge emotional affect on me like American Football does.
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jessem131 wrote:
they should reunite to play the super bowl halftime show
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alisonxamore wrote:
Just downloaded their self titled the other day, and Im loving it.
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diehappyx33 wrote:
It's always American Football season for me.
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vvhitenoise wrote:
can't believe, i'm getting into emo music
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VK1990 wrote:
For Sure
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lastcity wrote:
their guitars are very jazz influenced you guys.
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sweatbloodtears wrote:
the self titled is incredible, one of the best albums i've heard in ages.
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morning_fire wrote:
It's still American Football season. [11]
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applecloud wrote:
for sure ♥
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JuVondenSteinen wrote:
Just got the vinyl. So good. Ashame they disbanded so early.
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Jonzo67 wrote:
i've been drinking but yeah, this band are the tits. So much love for Mr Kinsella.
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idletears wrote:
timeless
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ShmapnShmazz wrote:
"Never thought jazz and emo would work together." You should try out cap'n jazz
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Recent Activity
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Max_Naprimer tagged American Football with ‘emo’. 1 hour ago
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avimatarasso, runpaintrun and jessie____ added American Football to their libraries. 10 hours ago
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Breitbarth tagged American Football with floating, drugs mix well with this song, cruising tunes and 2 other tags. yesterday afternoon
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MFCORNETTO added American Football to MFCORNETTO’s library. yesterday afternoon
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mugae tagged American Football with indie rock and emo. Thursday afternoon
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ajd9hx and toomanypeopless added American Football to their libraries. Thursday morning
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lyricscream tagged American Football with ‘emo’. Wednesday afternoon
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lyricscream, paranoid_slut and beeancax added American Football to their libraries. Wednesday afternoon
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b00nb00n tagged American Football with math rock and indie. Tuesday evening
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jwedge91, andypagliucer, lifelovah and 13 other people added American Football to their libraries. Tuesday morning
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