Photo by Alexa Viscius

Whether it’s due to their ascent to becoming emo festival headliners or the ego boost that comes with having your most iconic album cover being turned into a revenue-generating Airbnb while getting your own run of luxury Vans sneakers since the days of long laying dormant as one of the scene’s most seminal and elusive bands to break up before getting big, American Football really have been making the most of it in their post-reunion form. Now on the cusp of four eponymous albums into their career — and seven years removed from their last — the Midwestern indie-emo pioneers are really tugging at the cinematic heartstrings with its first single, “Bad Moons”.

To get there, they worked with Sonny DiPerri — engineering protege of Trent Reznor and My Bloody Valentine as well as producer for many within shoegaze’s new wave such as julie and glixen — who widens the sky of their signature twinklecore sound with dramatic flourishes of post-rock (between this, the latest single from she’s green, and the opener from that new Nothing album, I’d say that Explosion In the Sky’s influence is having a moment in all of this, too…) When you pair it with Alex Acy and Rémi Belleville’s visuals, which play out dramatically like a full season of a Midwestern / Canadian version of Friday Night Lights compressed behind an American Football soundtrack, they’re really making sure their brand of wistful hits you hard.

Directed by: Alex Acy & Rémi Belleville

American Football’s American Football will be released May 1st on Polyvinyl Records.