American Football

American Football is an American rock band from Urbana, Illinois, formed in 1997 by Mike Kinsella (guitar, bass, vocals), Steve Holmes (guitar), and Steve Lamos (drums, trumpet). Kinsella, previously of Cap'n Jazz and later known for his solo project Owen, brought an emo and math-rock sensibility that, combined with Holmes and Lamos's intricate, jazz-inflected arrangements, produced a sound built on interlocking guitar lines, irregular time signatures, and hushed, introspective vocals.

The band's original run was brief, ending around 2000 after releasing a self-titled debut album on Polyvinyl Records. That album, featuring songs like «Never Meant» and «The Summer Ends», went largely unnoticed on release but grew into a cult classic over the following decade, its iconic house-photo cover becoming one of the most recognizable images in emo and indie rock. The record's blend of vulnerability, technical guitar work, and unhurried song structures came to define a strand of what fans and critics later termed emo revival or Midwest emo.

American Football reunited in 2014, drawing on the album's belated cult status to launch a second act, releasing further self-titled albums and touring extensively. Tracks such as «Uncomfortably Numb» and «I'll See You When We're Both Not So Emotional» from this later period show the band maintaining their signature intricate, melancholic style while incorporating more mature songwriting and additional collaborators.