Lead vocalist/guitarist/bassist (at the same time, only not really) Mike Kinsella's explanation for the band name. I'll take it."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 the most 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."
I freakin' love these guys. Jeff showed me them earlier this year (as my bio states). I fell in love. The ambiance. The freakin' AMBIANCE. That's what drew me in at first. The guitars were just so free and open sounding. The drums, they felt so LOOSE. In the best way possible. Mike's vocal was stunning. I mean, sure, Bono could beat 'im in a singing contest, but WHO CARES? It's like apples and oranges.
American Football is real emo. Not that crap you hear today. All this "I wanna die please kill me life's so hard I broke my pencil and to make matters worse I need to piss really bad" bullcrap. SCREW THAT. These guys didn't put on more makeup than your mother, or put on insane amounts of black. These guys were just THEM. They didn't try to be Nirvana like every other god-forsaken band of the era. The '90s is my favorite era of music, don't take that I hate it by ANY means please, but originality was somewhat lacking.
The guitars are absolutely gorgeous. Mike's guitar pieces, they're so simple, yet so INTRICATE. It's amazing. There isn't any insane Boss dist pedal, any wah here. Maybe the occasional delay or compression here or there, definitely reverb, and some light distortion, but overall, this is bare bones. And that's what makes it so amazing. These guys are naked. No pretty little effects to polish them up and make them radio friendly. A real band that loves what they do and CARES insanely for it. If you're lucky enough to stumble upon one of their VERY rare live vid- okay, screw it, I'll embed one right now.
Notice they take their time tuning, so that every note comes out crisp and beautiful, as intended. You don't see that kind of care every day. And sure, Mike's vocals might be off here and there, but you gotta understand this place does NOT appear to be built for music. Plus there is no monitoring. It is INSANELY difficult to sing in a live setting with no monitors and a full band playing over you. BELIEVE ME, IT IS.
I know I'm probably sounding like a raging fanboy here, and I suppose I might be. AF is one of those bands that, you either love them and worship them and wish your wife would sound like them in bed, or you hate them and you wish they never would've been formed. I really see no reason in the latter, but, if you should find sense in it, more power to you sir.
It's amazing that American Football more than likely didn't play much larger shows than the one above. If only those people knew what they were witnessing. You can hear AF a little bit in every emo band, really. The vocal melodies, if nothing else. Many bands try to emulate the sound, and though it'd be impossible to do so, a select few do a DAMN fine job at it.
Algernon Cadwallader (written about last night, grab the free "Sailor Set Sail" mp3 in the downloads section if you want)
Midwest Pen Pals (my personal favorite on this list)
Be sure to check those guys out if you like AF. They have as much passion for it as Mike and the boys did.
So, that's about it for me today.
Below, you can listen to the AF track "Stay Home" from their eponymous LP. A beautiful example of what Mike and Steve can do with a guitar. You can also grab a download of it in the "Downloads" section if you'd like. I'll also put up a link to a free download of "Honestly" directly from their record label Polyvinyl.
Well, that's it. Stay tuned later for the mainstream fag's entry. Love y'all. That's right, both of you. I love you. AND you.
--Buddy
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