Name: American Football 3
Brand: American Football

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

BSM248VECO

Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

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Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2023-06-30

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

The Orchard

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

5060853702433

Total Cap

Black LP

BSM248CD

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2019-03-22

5060366787170

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1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

American Football

Genre GB

Alternative / Modern

Label GB

Big Scary Monsters

American Football is a rock band from Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Originally active from 1997 through 2000, the band consists of guitarist/bassist and singer Mike Kinsella, drummer Steve Lamos, and guitar player Steve Holmes. After reuniting in 2014, American Football has continued to make music together. Nate Kinsella also joined the band permanently as bassist during the recording of LP2.
With members who have been part of other notable bands such as Cap'n Jazz and Joan of Arc, American Football brings a wealth of experience to their music. Their unique sound blends elements of rock with introspective lyrics that resonate with listeners.
Since their reunion, American Football has played festival sets and headline shows, captivating audiences with their emotive performances. With each release, they continue to push boundaries and create music that connects deeply with fans around the world.

Big Scary Monsters is an independent label based in Oxford, UK. Founded in 2001 by Kevin Douch, the label has become a prominent figure in the music industry. As part of the Pink Mist collective, Big Scary Monsters has established itself as a force to be reckoned with.

With a diverse roster of talented *artists* and *performers*, Big Scary Monsters continues to push boundaries and challenge conventions. The label prides itself on supporting emerging talent and providing a platform for artists to express themselves freely.

From punk rock to indie pop, Big Scary Monsters offers a wide range of genres for music enthusiasts. With their commitment to quality and passion for music, it's no wonder that Big Scary Monsters has gained a loyal following over the years.

Back In Stock

American Football (LP3) is the third album from the scene giants - American Football. American 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. Like 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.

Fifteen 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.

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. 

American 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. The 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.

LP3 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. 