Happy 25th to the American Football EP
A prelude to one of the pillars of Midwest emo, American Football's debut EP teases what's to come.
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In 1998, Polyvinyl released an EP of three songs that clocked in under twelve minutes but changed the course of emo forever. American Football, a trio out of Urbana, Illinois, burned fast and bright in their few years as a band, releasing this self-titled EP and debut LP (spoiler alert: there’s going to be a reunion and at least two more excellent albums to come), while turning the emo scene on its head with their to-be signature blend of clean, weirdly tuned guitar riffs jutting back and forth in math rock time signatures.
I’ve been thinking a lot this year about American Football because of the debut album from LIES that dropped back in April. American Football’s Mike Kinsella would go on to other great projects like Owen and Their / They’re / There, but LIES, a band formed with his cousin Nate, is quite an exciting development for longtime AF fans. For more on that record and a look back at when I got into Midwest emo in the early aughts, you can read my review of LIES’s self-titled debut here.
Featuring as a trio on the EP, American Football consisted of Kinsella, guitarist Steve Holmes, and drummer Steve Lamos. Always an unconventional band, there is no bass player to be found, lending these three songs a high-level sound. “The One With the Tambourine immediately lays out the group’s mission statement, with Kinsella and Holmes trading neck runs over Lamos’s busy yet simple drums. “Five Silent Miles” is a great instrumental piece, but the true highlight is “Letters and Packages.” It may be nostalgia for how prominent E-bows were in the late nineties and the hours I spent in the basement trying to get mine to sound like James Iha or Peter Buck, but Holmes’s use of the electronic bow in the intro is pure feedback heaven.
Regular readers know I’m a massive fan of the EP format, and American Football hits all of the right marks with these three songs. Quickly giving the listener a sampler of what the band is capable of, their EP lets you know there is nothing else like American Football in 1998. Their self-titled debut the following September would go on to be the definition of a classic Midwestern emo album before quickly disbanding until a 2014 reunion tour led to two more phenomenal LPs.
Have any thoughts on American Football and Midwestern emo? Let me know in the comments!
If you’re a prolific Bandcamp user like myself, you probably already know it’s Bandcamp Friday. In case you didn’t, this is one of the rare occasions the online music distributor waves their fees, and artists and labels receive all proceeds from their sales. If you’ve been thinking about buying the new album from Zivi, Lowmello’s EP from earlier this year, or a t-shirt (the new ice dyes went super fast, and there are only a few left in stock), today is the day to do it. We at Mama Mañana Records are so thankful for your support, which goes directly towards paying for the label’s next release.
I love it! I've only really been into the one with the house picture, and never digested this EP or the most recent one. I like the EP and need to check out LIES.