PRE-ORDER CRASHES LABEL WEBSITE
DELUXE EDITION INCLUDES BONUS DISK OF RARE LIVE RECORDINGS, DEMOS, AND PRACTICE SESSIONS
HEAR THE PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED SONG
“The 7’s [Live At The Blind Pig, Champaign, IL, 1997]”
Polyvinyl Records and American Football are excited to announce the reissue of the Chicago/Urbana, IL trio’s seminal self-titled 1999 release. Available May 20th on 2xLP, 2xCD, cassette tape, and digital formats, the American Football (Deluxe Edition) reissue features an album’s worth of rare live recordings, demos, and practice sessions (in which the group rehearsed material they never recorded elsewhere) to complement the original record. Beautifully expanded packaging incorporates new photographs from Chris Strong along with lyrics, detailed liner notes written by the band, and never-before-seen band pictures.
In anticipation of the reissue release, the previously unreleased song “The 7’s”, recorded Live At the Blind Pig in Champaign, IL in 1997, is now available to stream on SoundCloud. According to guitarist Steve Holmes, the song was among the very first the band wrote, and was a standard set closer for them until they wrote “Stay Home”. While that song eventually made it onto the band’s self-titled album, “The 7’s” was never recorded in studio as they felt it would fail to fit with the rest of the songs on American Football.
Stream “The 7’s [Live At The Blind Pig, Champaign, IL, 1997]” on SoundCloud
Pre-Order American Football (Deluxe Edition) via Polyvinyl Records
https://www.polyvinylrecords.
Stream “Untitled #1 (The One With The Trumpet) [Boombox Practice Session, 1998]”
on SoundCloud
In 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. The incredible reverence for American Football and their self-titled album was on display earlier this year when upon launch of the pre-order, fans eagerly anticipating new output from the band crashed the Polyvinyl website for the first time in the label’s history.
From 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.
