{"title":"American Football","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"american-football-lp2-12-vinyl","title":"American Football \"American Football (LP2)\" 12\" Vinyl","description":"\u003cp\u003eNot long after Polyvinyl Records released American Football’s self-titled debut album in 1999, the band called it quits, having only played a smattering of Champaign-Urbana college house parties and sets at small clubs like Chicago’s legendary Fireside Bowl. Such an inauspicious turn of events made what followed all the more incredible. Over time, the record went on to become one of Polyvinyl’s best selling releases to date, and ended up serving as “one of the single most influential rock records of its time” according to Noisey and many others. To most everyone that found them after the fact, the band was no more than an apparition. The record the only artifact left behind as a timeless snapshot of a group of individuals in transition, newly discovered each year by a fresh crop of music fans reaching a similar inflection point in their own lives.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eWhen American Football announced in 2014 that they would play live for the first time in 15 years, the built up appreciation for that eponymous LP physically manifested itself as they sold out 3 nights at Webster Hall in New York City in a matter of hours, and then went on to do the same at venues around the world. A quarter of a lifetime removed, and at times thousands of miles away from the house on the sleepy street in the middle of Illinois depicted on their debut album’s iconic cover, they found themselves playing to sold out crowds that numbered in the thousands in London, Tokyo, Barcelona and beyond.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe again self-titled American Football finds the band with new material that takes them on a serendipitous detour down a familiar road. It is replete with the swelling emotions that might be spurred on by locked away memories unearthed by a familiar scent or crack in the concrete, or the rush of warm apprehension when coming face to face with a lover left before the fire was close to going out. “The past still present tense” sings Mike Kinsella on “Home Is Where The Haunt Is,” but while the house on the cover and the title of the album are the same, they are made strange by time and new found perspective. “We’ve been here before,” he declares on album opener “Where Are We Now?”, “but I don’t remember a lock on the door.”\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAt a time when reunions have become rote, American Football is decidedly an anomaly. There is no past glory to relive or reignite, nor the burden to branch out and break from a well worn formula. Seventeen years later everything still feels brand new, because for them it is. They are a band that for one reason or another closed the lid on their creative output just as they were beginning an unforeseeable upswing, and are just now after a stasis returning to uncork it with the benefit of greater maturity and better musicianship. The sound is even more expansive, the lyrics less naive and more world weary, the songs have greater depths to explore and layers to peel back throughout. “You can’t just forget all the other lives you’ve lived,” Mike Kinsella sings, and every single one of the nearly two decades worth of experiences since they last put pen to paper as American Football seem to bleed through on this record.Tracklist:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhere Are We Now? \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMy Instincts Are The Enemy \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHome Is Where the Haunt Is \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBorn to Lose\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eI've Been So Lost for So Long\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGive Me the Gun \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eI Need a Drink (or Two or Three)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDesire Gets in the Way\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEveryone is Dressed Up\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e","brand":"CC Polyvinyl","offers":[{"title":"Orange","offer_id":42804788527275,"sku":"102-718517418996-102","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0063\/2092\/files\/a0940539402_10.jpg?v=1689608286"},{"product_id":"american-football-lp3-12-vinyl","title":"American Football \"American Football (LP3)\" 12\" Vinyl","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe quietest voices can be the most durable.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmerican Football’s original triumph, on their 1999 self-titled debut, was to reunite two shy siblings: emo and post-rock. It was a pioneering album where lyrical clarity was obscured and complicated by the stealth musical textures surrounding it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLike Slint’s Spiderland, or Codeine’s The White Birch, even Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock, American Football asked far more questions than it cared to answer. But there wasn’t a band around anymore to explain it, anyway. The three young men who made the album – Mike Kinsella, Steve Holmes, and Steve Lamos – split up pretty much on its release.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFifteen years later, American Football reunited (now as a four-piece, with the addition of Nate Kinsella). They played far larger shows than in their original incarnation and recorded their long-anticipated second album, 2016’s American Football (LP2). The release was widely praised, but the band members still felt like their best work was yet to come.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘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.’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEnter 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs a result, LP3 is less obviously tethered to the band’s past than the second album. An immediate contrast between LP3 and its two predecessors is its cover. The two previous albums featured the exterior and interior of a residence in the band’s original hometown of Urbana, Illinois (now attracting fans for pilgrimages and photo opportunities), by the photographer Chris Strong. But American Football knew that LP3 was an outside record. Instead of the familiar house, this time the cover photo (again by Strong) features open, rolling fields on Urbana’s borders. It is a sign of the album’s magnitude in sound, and of the band’s boldness in breaking away from home comforts.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmerican Football also joked that LP3’s genre was ‘post-house’, because of this very conscious visual break. But, in a strange way, there are links in LP3 with an actual post-house genre: shoegaze. The more exploratory members of the original British shoegaze scene were inspired by the dreamtime and circularity of house music (ambient house in particular), cherishing its sonic possibilities. That spirit drips into LP3, most obviously on ‘I Can’t Feel You’, a collaboration with Rachel Goswell of Slowdive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe album also features Hayley Williams from Paramore on the album’s catchiest moment, ‘Uncomfortably Numb’, and Elizabeth Powell, of the Québécoise act Land Of Talk. Mike wrote lyrics in French especially for her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLP3 is contemplative, rich, expressive, yet with a queasy undercurrent. It is heavy with expectancy, revealing its ideas slowly, eliciting the hidden stories people carry around with them. ‘I feel like my lyric writing has changed a lot over the years,’ says Mike. ‘The goal is to be conversational, maybe to state something giant and heavy, but in a very plain way. But, definitely in this record, I keep things a little more vague.’ As on the first album, the lyrics on LP3 may seem confessional and concentrated, but the more you scrutinize them, the further their meaning slinks away. Or, as Mike tellingly sings on ‘I Can’t Feel You”: I’m fluent in subtlety.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘I think that there are those albums, or the music that you heard when you were younger, and they imprint on you,’ says Nate. ‘And no matter where you go, or what you do they’re always there.’ He is talking of Steve Reich – an early and ongoing influence on American Football – but he might as well be reflecting what is said of his own band, and the ardent following they inspire. American Football stands as an enduring symbol of elusive emotional landscapes, where introspection can be as dramatic as confrontation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTracklist:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSilhouettes\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEvery Wave To Ever Rise (ft. Elizabeth Powell) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUncomfortably Numb (ft. Hayley Williams) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHeir Apparent \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDoom In Full Bloom\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eI Can't Feel You (ft. Rachel Goswell)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMine To Miss\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLife Support \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e","brand":"CC Polyvinyl","offers":[{"title":"Light Blue","offer_id":42804788887723,"sku":"102-777393136828-102","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0063\/2092\/files\/a0215319388_10.jpg?v=1689607998"},{"product_id":"american-football-american-football-lp1-2x12-vinyl","title":"American Football \"American Football (Deluxe Edition)\" 2x12\" Vinyl","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom its now iconic artwork to the band's unique songwriting approach (highlighted by an emphasis on shifting time signatures and sincere lyrics), American Football proves a record doesn't become a true classic through flashiness or catering to trends, but rather the deep emotional connection it forges between the music and the listener.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter guitarist Steve Holmes discovered a set of cassette tapes containing a variety of unreleased recordings, the band curated an album's worth of these rare live recordings, demos, and practice sessions (in which the group rehearsed material they never recorded elsewhere) to complement the original record.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow available on 2xLP and 2xCD, American Football (Deluxe Edition) features beautifully expanded packaging that incorporates new photographs from Chris Strong along with lyrics, detailed liner notes written by the band, and never-before-seen band pictures.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDeluxe Gatefold Jacket.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePrinted cardstock inner sleeves.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e12-page 12\"x12\" booklet includes liner notes written by the band and never-before-seen photos.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTracklist:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNever Meant \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Summer Ends \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHonestly? \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFor Sure \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYou Know I Should Be Leaving Soon \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBut the Regrets Are Killing Me \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eI'll See You When We're Both Not So Emotional \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStay Home\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe One With the Wurlitzer\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIntro (Live at the Blind Pig, Champaign, IL, 1997) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFive Silent Miles (Live at the Blind Pig, Champaign, IL, 1997) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUntitled #1 - The One With the Trumpet (Boombox Practice Session, 1998) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUntitled #2 (Boombox Practice Session, 1998) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStay Home (Boombox Practice Session, 1998) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUntitled #3 (Boombox Practice Session, 1998) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNever Meant (4-Track Album Prep, 1999) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBut the Regrets Are Killing Me (4-Track Album Prep, 1999) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eI'll See You When We're Both Not So Emotional (4-Track Album Prep, 1999) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe 7's (Live at the Blind Pig, Champaign, IL, 1997) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e","brand":"CC Polyvinyl","offers":[{"title":"Red","offer_id":42804789248171,"sku":"102-288794151665-102","price":38.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0063\/2092\/files\/a2991634193_16.jpg?v=1689606942"},{"product_id":"american-football-rare-symmetry-fade-into-you-10-vinyl","title":"American Football \"Rare Symmetry \/ Fade Into You\" 10\" Vinyl","description":"\u003cp\u003eAfter quietly releasing their self-titled debut album in 1999 while still in college, American Football disbanded after the album’s release to focus on other projects, only to reunite 15 years later to a fanbase that had been consistently growing throughout the underground \/ emo scene. The album later appeared on Rolling Stone’s “40 Greatest Emo Albums of All Time” list at #6, with Pitchfork giving its deluxe reissue the “Best New Reissue” title, calling it the “most influential album in the genre.” The reunion was followed by 2 more self-titled full-length albums (LP2 and LP3), collaborations with the likes of Paramore’s Hayley Williams, San Holo, boyband and others, as well as numerous sold-out world tours.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the Rare Symmetry \/ Fade Into You 10” single, American Football (Mike Kinsella, Nate Kinsella, Steve Holmes) expand on the dense beauty of LP3 with “Rare Symmetry”, incorporating chiming vibraphones, intricate picking patterns, and devastating lyrics. For the B-side, the band offers up a dazzling cover of Mazzy Star’s 1994 hit single, “Fade Into You,” with Miya Folick contributing vocals. Both tracks feature the iconic, jazz-infused drumming of former founding member Steve Lamos, who played on these songs before announcing his departure earlier this year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTracklist:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRare Symmetry\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFade Into You\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e","brand":"CC Polyvinyl","offers":[{"title":"Pink","offer_id":42809179799723,"sku":"101-129264881841-101","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0063\/2092\/files\/a2025974355_10.jpg?v=1689785958"},{"product_id":"american-football-american-football-ep-12-vinyl","title":"American Football \"American Football EP 12\" Vinyl","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom Urbana, IL, American Football offered up a debut EP featuring the talents of guitarist\/vocalist Mike Kinsella (Owen, Cap'n Jazz, Joan of Arc), guitarist Steve Holmes and the impeccably timed, jazz-like drumming of Steve Lamos.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmerican Football created the kind of songs that held new discoveries upon each listen. These three songs, along with the nine that appear on the band's self-titled full-length, are the only American Football songs ever released.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 2008, after numerous requests, the EP finally found its way onto vinyl as a one-sided 12\" featuring all new photography by Chris Strong.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTracklist:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe One With The Tambourine \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLetters and Packages \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFive Silent Miles\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e","brand":"CC Polyvinyl","offers":[{"title":"Half Red\/Half Black","offer_id":42809207062699,"sku":"102-185146742022-102","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0063\/2092\/files\/a2753906385_10.jpg?v=1689786500"},{"product_id":"american-football-american-football-lp1-2x12-vinyl-1","title":"American Football \"American Football (LP1)\" 12\" Vinyl","description":"\u003cp\u003eAmerican Football's first album showcases cleanly picked guitars, intricate drumming, and the vocals of Mike Kinsella (Owen, Cap'n Jazz).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe band, made up of Kinsella, Steve Holmes and Steve Lamos rooted itself in Champaign and recorded this album at Private Studios with Brendan Gamble.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDespite little touring and with only an EP behind them, these nine songs highlight the trio's uncanny songwriting abilities.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTracklist:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNever Meant \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Summer Ends \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHonestly? \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFor Sure \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYou Know I Should Be Leaving Soon \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBut the Regrets Are Killing Me \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eI'll See You When We're Both Not So Emotional \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStay Home\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe One With the Wurlitzer\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e","brand":"CC Polyvinyl","offers":[{"title":"Blue Smoke","offer_id":43142895665323,"sku":"102-793972906691-102","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0063\/2092\/files\/a2991634193_16_ae005104-5ebe-4cce-aa85-cfe88c1ee571.jpg?v=1699391462"},{"product_id":"american-football-stay-home-shirt","title":"American Football \"Stay Home\" Shirt","description":"\u003cdiv data-mce-fragment=\"1\" class=\"product__description-container\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-mce-fragment=\"1\" class=\"product__description\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-mce-fragment=\"1\" class=\"rte\"\u003e\n\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eOfficially Licensed Distributed Item. \u003c\/span\u003ePrinted on Bella + Canvas.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-mce-fragment=\"1\" class=\"product__share\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"CC Polyvinyl","offers":[{"title":"Small","offer_id":43142933381291,"sku":"163-227115366659-SMA","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Medium","offer_id":43142933414059,"sku":"163-227115366659-MED","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Large","offer_id":43142933446827,"sku":"163-227115366659-LAR","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"X-Large","offer_id":43142933479595,"sku":"163-227115366659-XLG","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"2X-Large","offer_id":43142933512363,"sku":"163-227115366659-2XL","price":28.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"3X-Large","offer_id":43142933545131,"sku":"163-227115366659-3XL","price":30.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0063\/2092\/files\/AMERICANFOOTBALLSTAYHOMESHIRT.jpg?v=1699889856"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.coldcutsmerch.com\/collections\/american-football.oembed","provider":"Cold Cuts Merch","version":"1.0","type":"link"}