American Football's Cure Cover Earns Robert Smith's Praise
American Football, the US midwest emo band, has released a two-song SiriusXM Session recording featuring a stripped-down cover of The Cure's 1979 classic "Boys Don't Cry," alongside an acoustic version of their own "Wake Her Up." The Cure's frontman Robert Smith publicly praised the cover as one of the most heartfelt and beautiful renditions of his band's work he's heard. According to NME, it's only the second cover the band has released in its roughly 30-year career.
Two SiriusXM Session Recordings
American Football's only prior cover was a 2021 rendition of Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You." The same SiriusXMU session also produced an acoustic version of "Wake Her Up," from the band's latest album LP4, whose original studio version features Wisp.
Frontman Mike Kinsella explained the choice: The Cure, and "Boys Don't Cry" specifically, shaped him not just as a songwriter but as a man. He described the song as well-suited to being "deconstructed and reassembled by a group of melody-driven, emotionally expressive grown men." The band swapped the original's jangly guitar for thinner, sparser lines, slowed the tempo considerably, and added a mournful trumpet solo — though Kinsella says the song's blunt adolescent longing still holds up.
No Feeling World Tour: South and North America
The session arrives ahead of the next leg of the band's "No Feeling World Tour." Over the summer, American Football played the US, UK, Europe, Asia and Mexico, with surprise guest appearances from Hayley Williams, Wisp and Soccer Mommy along the way. The remaining dates are concentrated in South and North America, kicking off November 28 in Santiago, Chile, moving through Brazil, Argentina and Peru, and closing with eight US shows.
The tour partners with the nonprofit PLUS1, donating $1 from every ticket sold to organizations supporting immigrant rights, deportee assistance, migrant workers and refugees.
- Nov 28 — Santiago, Chile @ Fauna Primavera
- Nov 30 — São Paulo, Brazil @ Audio
- Dec 2 — Buenos Aires, Argentina @ C Art Media
- Dec 5 — Lima, Peru @ Veltrac Music Festival
- Dec 11 — Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution Live
- Dec 12 — Tampa, FL @ Ritz Ybor
- Dec 13 — Orlando, FL @ Plaza Live
- Dec 15 — Jacksonville, FL @ Five
- Dec 16 — Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte
- Dec 18 — New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall
- Dec 19 — Worcester, MA @ Palladium
- Dec 20 — Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall
LP4's Seven-Year Gap
LP4 arrives seven years after 2019's LP3. Guitarist Steve Holmes previously told NME that most members have kids and day jobs, and the band had already planned a year off after LP3's heavy touring schedule before the pandemic hit. Writing for the fourth album began remotely online, and member Lamos left the band around 2021. The album also features a contribution from Turnstile frontman Brendan Yates, which the band has described as a "happy accident."