Reunited Midwest emo pioneers American Football have influenced a great many bands over the years. They've been back together since 2014, though they haven't always had an easy time with it, and young artists like Hayley Williams and Turnstile's Brendan Yates have lined up to work with them. While they're out there promoting their fourth album, American Football recently did an in-studio session for SiriusXMU and covered one of their own great influences, the Cure.
In their SiriusXMU session, American Football took on the Cure's classic "Boys Don't Cry" and utterly transformed it. The slowed the song down, built in tons of interweaving acoustic guitar lines. The band adds some funereal harmonies, as well as the iconic riff from their own song "Never Meant." It's very cool to hear something as familiar as "Boys Don't Cry" in such a different form. Robert Smith even provided this quote: "One of the most heartfelt and beautiful Cure covers I have ever heard." They should release this one as a single, honestly. (UPDATE: It's now on DSPs.) In a press release, Mike Kinsella says:
The Cure, and specifically “Boys Don’t Cry,” has not only been fundamental to my growth as a songwriter but as much or more so on my development as a man. It just seemed like the perfect fit for a bunch of melodically-driven, emotionally available grown men to deconstruct and try to make our own. We replaced the jangle with some spindly guitars, slowed it down quite a bit, and added a mournful trumpet solo, but the plain-spoken adolescent longing remains as resonant as ever.
Watch it below.
Yesterday, Mike Kinsella teased that cover on Instagram, posting a video of himself playing acoustic version of the cover while his dog sleeps next to him.
