American Football buys The American Football House

May 6, 2023 10:03 PM

In 1999, the band American Football released their eponymous debut album (which would later come to be known as LP1 after they also named their next two albums American Football). Its cover was a picture of a nondescript white house at 704 W. High Street in Urbana, Illinois, which has since become an emo pilgrimage site. And now, the band and their label own the American Football House.
posted by Etrigan (13 comments total)

It’s weird when a band completely escapes your attention, when it’s very much in your wheelhouse.

I was a big fan of Cap’n Jazz, Mike Kinsella’s previous band, but somehow I’ve gone through life until now without ever registering the existence of American Football. I’m now listening to their debut album and it’s very much my kind of thing, and would’ve been on heavy rotation on the CD player of late teens, early 20s me.

Anyway, one of the nice things about MetaFilter is that its members keep introducing me to things that I should’ve known for ages. Thanks, Etrigan!
posted by Kattullus at 10:29 PM on May 6, 2023 [4 favorites]

I love how this band has had a second wind and found a larger audience mostly due to TikTok. 15 year old kids are listening to American Football! Incredible stuff
posted by windbox at 10:55 PM on May 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

Oh man, I had no idea they were having a TikTok revival. That's great!
posted by vibratory manner of working at 12:02 AM on May 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

It makes me very happy that this album is still finding fans nearly 25 years on. I found it entirely by chance, when randomly browsing a music message board that I wasn’t a member of and had just happened upon somehow. It instantly became a favourite and has aged in step with me, so still has that feeling of a personal soundtrack. And it’s one of those “you must listen to this” suggestions that I proffer with the zeal of the convert when I meet new friends who are into similar stuff, but who unaccountably haven’t heard of it!
posted by greycap at 1:43 AM on May 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

As someone who grew up in Illinois, that is the most Illinois house ever.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 1:56 AM on May 7, 2023 [5 favorites]

Good for them. I have this album on an old disc of Emo mp3s, but it was never in constant rotation and I didn’t have the cover art. I know a friend of mine who played in emo bands of this era made the pilgrimage during a cross county move a few years ago.

This did make me think if there was any formative albums for me that would have identifiable cover art and I came up blank.

I know U2 fans do go searching for THE Joshua Tree (now dead), and Eagles fans can find a monument to Glen Frey “Stadin’ on the Corner”in Winslow Arizona
posted by CostcoCultist at 2:15 AM on May 7, 2023

Jazz Butcher fans like to go to London's Fishcotheque to reproduce the cover of the album of the same name, which was shot there (apparently there is also a little tribute to the album in the restaurant).
posted by carrienation at 4:41 AM on May 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

It would be kind of a thing to buy the Let it Be house if it's ever put up for sale.
posted by dismas at 9:51 AM on May 7, 2023 [2 favorites]

I have been giggling at the idea of Emo-tourism for ten minutes.
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 11:25 AM on May 7, 2023 [3 favorites]

This news sent me down a weird YouTube rabbit hole of Never Meant covers; I was a particular fan of the Synthwave cover and the Animal Crossing cover.
posted by god hates math at 6:11 PM on May 7, 2023

Holy cow. Coincidentally, I saw this Insta account yesterday and I didn't understand the meaning behind it until seeing this post just now.
posted by Hey Dean Yeager! at 10:23 PM on May 7, 2023

In case anyone doesn't know, Mike Kinsella is also Owen, which has a similar but more emo feeling than American Football. I would say all the albums have the same feel up until New Leaves in 2009, which I didn't like as much. The self-titled album is one of my all-time favorites and is just beautiful in its entirety.
posted by LizBoBiz at 1:31 AM on May 8, 2023

When I lived in Urbana in 1999 I was listening to Poster Children (technically a Champaign band, I suppose if we’re splitting hairs?). I thought they faded into obscurity but thank you for this post because I see that they’re playing in Chicago at the end of May! I must have stumbled upon American football at some point, being in both of the concert planning music “clubs” at U of I but I don’t remember them at all.
posted by Bunglegirl at 7:56 PM on May 17, 2023 [1 favorite]