American
Football, sometimes stylized as americ anfootball, is an American indie-rock band formed in 1997 and signed to Polyvinyl Records. Originally consisting of Mike Kinsella, Steve Lamos, and Steve Holmes, the band garnered notoriety and praise for their self-titled debut album released in 1999, which would later become a cult classic among many
music journalists and an essential album among
4chan's /mu/ board, and are regarded as icons in the Midwest emo genre. The band would later break up after the release of their first album, before reforming in 2014 with new member
Nate Kinsella and have been active since.
In 1997, Mike Kinsella, then a university student who performed in bands such as Joan of Arc and
Cap'n
Jazz, formed the band The One Up Downstairs alongside Steve Lamos, Allen
Johnson, and David
Johnson. Though the band was originally supposed to put out a single on Polyvinyl Records, the record was shelved as the band broke up shortly before its release, though it would later be released years later. Kinsella and Lamos would later be joined by Steve Holmes, who was Kinsella's roommate at the
time, forming the original lineup for the band. This would lead to the release of American
Football's self-titled debut EP on Polyvinyl on October 6 1998 (shown below, left). The band would release their self-titled debut album (shown below, right) on September 14, 1999, with the band later breaking up that year due to living in different cities and the end of their courses.
