As an emotionally volatile 16-year-old music snob, I was in prime shape to discover "American Football" back in 2007. If ever there was a band to listen to at night during one of my regular pity parties, they were it. For the uninitiated, American Football was/is an emo/indie band that existed for about two years between 1998 and 2000. Comprised of genre mainstay Mike Kinsella (vocals/guitar), Steve Lamos (drums/trumpet), and Steve Holmes (guitar), the threesome released a self-titled album in 1999 that they thought few would like or even hear. They made their somber, meandering magnum opus out of a shared affection for the music itself and simple proximity to each other, not for anything that might come after its release. Never did they expect that "American Football" would become a touchstone for kids on their way to appreciating and making punk, emo, and indie music for more than a decade to come. Kinsella became a household name for those of us who were lucky enough to be the right kind of angsty teenager with bands like Joan of Arc, Cap’n Jazz, and his solo project Owen, whose new album "The King of Whys" dropped on July 29th of this year on Polyvinyl. While the remaining members went on to form careers outside of music, the solitary record American Football left behind incubated over the next 16 years in the minds and stereos of a new generation of fans they probably never thought they’d have.
For me, the album felt like a mirror, reflecting many of the thoughts I had around that formative age. The rawness and honesty resonated in a way that I’d not heard before and haven’t since, and its gentleness stood out among the more traditional punk albums populating my iPod at the time. The peculiar time signatures, the seemingly simple yet profoundly complex riffing, the idiosyncratic presence of a trumpet; the record seemed to speak even when nobody was singing. It oozed a blue and contemplative atmosphere that gave me the kinds of chills one might get walking around outside in late fall. I developed a personal attachment to "American Football," like I’d discovered something just for me that I wouldn’t have to share with anyone else. After doing as much research as Google would allow, I came to understand how it happened, and as a young musician (back then I played bass in a ska band, of all things) it gave me hope. If a seminal record can just fall out of a short-lived band comprised of three college roommates, maybe that’s something I could do. I play an instrument, I have friends, and I have a few things I’d like to bitch about. My completist curiosity piqued, I dove into American Football’s contemporaries and predecessors head first and ate it up. However, none of it quite measured up, and I found myself wanting and needing more of what set me off in that direction in the first place. It almost felt cruel the way the world had limited this band to only one, objectively perfect, record. Imagine if The Beatles’ only album was Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Discovering it years after the band broke up felt like reading an old unopened letter from a friend who had moved away. The persistent theme of goodbyes and things ending on "American Football" seemed to have predicted their own brief life span, but years after their dissolution, they could still say goodbye to new fans as well. "American Football" accidentally became important, putting a capstone on their era and laying a foundation for the next, one that some would argue could only be topped by them.
For about 15 years we loyal fans longed for a return. During that time, the band members essentially lost touch with each other and moved on with their lives, bucking the idea of a reunion until one day, like the creation of the music itself, it just happened. They reunited for a handful of sold-out shows in New York and Illinois. Unfortunately, I languished in the far reaches of the Philadelphia suburbs and was not among the lucky attendees. After the shows came and went I was sure I’d missed my chance to ever connect with the band in the way that only live shows can deliver. But with last week’s announcement of a new album and the release of a new song, I got to revisit everything I felt when I first heard “Never Meant” nine years ago. American Football is back from the dead, now featuring Mike’s cousin Nate Kinsella on bass. With the aptly titled new single "I've Been So Lost For So Long," we’re once again able to transport back to our formative years with a new soundtrack for our nostalgia. It’s a feeling that the circle is complete, like that one unrequited crush you had in high school turned up ten years later saying, “You know, I always really liked you. Want to get dinner some time?” Like that crush, it all comes rushing back like not a day has passed. The new song is a tight and mature return to form. Despite the decidedly more polished sound (courtesy of producer Jason Cupp, SHIRK Studios, and ARC Studios), you likely wouldn’t guess that they essentially retired 16 years ago. It's straightforward in its approach and infectiously catchy, sure to please both new fans and old. Lyrically, it’s easy to sense that the Mike Kinsella we knew from back in 1999 is still very much the same, just a little older and a little more road weary.
As music fans know, the sophomore slump is a thing for a reason. But American Football is an anomaly in this regard. Sophomore albums can fall short because they are rushed or required in a label contract. This second effort is a patient and freely decided one, taking a decade and a half to find the right cross-section of timing and inspiration. From what we've heard so far, it's clearly been worth the wait. American Football’s second LP, also self-titled, will be released on Polyvinyl Records on October 21 followed by four shows. Listen to “I’ve Been So Lost For So Long” here.
American Football:
1. Where Are We Now?
2. My Instincts Are the Enemy
3. Home Is Where the Haunt Is
4. Born to Lose
5. I've Been So Lost for So Long
6. Give Me the Gun
7. I Need a Drink (or Two or Three)
8. Desire Gets in the Way
9. Everyone Is Dressed Up
Tour Dates:
10/29/16 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
1/28/17 New York, NY - Terminal 5
2/11/17 London, England - Shepherd's Bush Empire
2/25/17 Los Angeles, CA - The Ace Hotel Theatre
