American Football Releases THE CURE Cover; Fall 2026 Tour Continues

American Football has released Wake Her Up / Boys Don't Cry (SiriusXM Session) to DSPs, featuring a cover of The Cure's track 'Boys Don't Cry' and a new acoustic rendition of their own LP4 track, 'Wake Her Up.' The songs mark the band's inaugural performance on SiriusXMU, recorded between stops on their global No Feeling Tour in Nashville this past August.

The double single previously aired as part of the band's four-song session and interview with XMU host, Josiah Lambert, and is now officially available across all platforms. The songs capture the bare emotions of American Football's music in a whole new light, while celebrating a timeless classic by one of their most beloved influences, The Cure—which notably includes a playful nod to the band's own 'Never Meant.'

'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,' American Football frontman Mike Kinsella shares. '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.'

Offering his own take on the new rendition, The Cure's frontman, Robert Smith, shares: 'One of the most heartfelt and beautiful Cure covers I have ever heard'

Lush with intimacy, Wake Her Up / Boys Don't Cry (SiriusXM Session), American Football's first and only acoustic release, features the band's seven-piece touring lineup—with contributing members Cory Bracken on glockenspiel, Justine Fallon on backing vocals, and multi-instrumentalist Mike Garzon. The release is only the second cover song in American Football's nearly 30-year career, following the 2021 release of 'Fade Into You (feat. Miya Folick)' originally by Mazzy Star.

'Wake Her Up,' the band's most recent single featuring vocals from Wisp, served as the focus track for the band's fourth studio album LP4, released in May. Produced and mixed by Sonny DiPierri (My Bloody Valentine, Portugal. The Man, Nine Inch Nails) and released via Polyvinyl Record Co., the project marks a return for a band that, despite releasing their self-titled debut a quarter of a century ago, continues to reach new musical heights. The record sees the band overhaul their writing and recording processes decades into their career, reflecting on the disorientation, compromise, grief, and hard-won perspective of middle age. Alongside 'Wake Her Up,' the album's singles 'Bad Moons' and 'No Feeling,' featuring Turnstile's Brendan Yates, have received praise from critics and audiences, and the album overall has received reviews from NPR Music, Associated Press, NY Times, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork (an 8/10 review), SPIN, and more.

The new release arrives ahead of the band's next leg of their 2026 'No Feeling' World Tour. Having recently completed runs in the US, UK, Europe, Asia, and Mexico throughout the summer, the band will continue expanding their global reach with additional performances across North and South America throughout the rest of 2026.

Crowds along the tour have also been treated to surprise guests, including Hayley Williams (for the first joint performance of 'Uncomfortably Numb') at Kilby Block Party, Wisp (performing 'Wake Her Up') at their sold-out show at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, Soccer Mommy (performing 'Uncomfortably Numb') at Marathon Music Works in Nashville, and fellow Midwest indie rocker Rainer Maria's Caithlin De Marrais (performing 'Blood On My Blood') at both their sold-out Brooklyn Paramount show and their hometown show in Chicago at the Salt Shed.

The year also included an intimate acoustic set from Mike Kinsella for 'The One. For New York. Feat. Dinosaur Jr. and friends.' His involvement was also part of the short documentary film by Fender, The One. For New York, chronicling Dinosaur Jr.'s intimate, multi-venue NYC pop-up series. The film is streaming exclusively on Fender.com before moving to Fender's YouTube channel on October 16th at 8AM PT.

American Football has partnered with PLUS1 so that $1 from every ticket sold on tour will go towards organizations protecting immigrant rights and supporting deportees, migrants and refugees. The partnership has raised over $33,000 in proceeds to date.

American Football Tour Dates

11/28 - Santiago, CL @ Fauna Primavera

11/30 - São Paulo, BR @ Audio

12/02 - Buenos Aires, AR @ C Art Media

12/05 - Lima, PE @ Veltrac Music Festival

12/11 - Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution Live +

12/12 - Tampa, FL @ Ritz Ybor +

12/13 - Orlando, FL @ Plaza Live +

12/15 - Jacksonville, FL @ Five +

12/16 - Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte

12/18 - New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall +

12/19 - Worcester, MA @ Palladium +

12/20 - Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall +

+ w/ She's Green

About American Football

Before attaining global recognition as a defining pillar of the 'Midwest Emo' sub-genre, American Football was a humble University of Illinois-based indie rock band led by Mike Kinsella (founding Cap'n Jazz drummer-turned-vocalist-and-guitarist), along with Steve Holmes (guitar) and Steve Lamos (drums/trumpet). Together, American Football would play no more than a dozen sparsely attended shows before going their separate ways. With only three songs having been released up until that point, the band's final parting gift would be shared in the form of a nine-track self-titled album, released in 1999 via the locally founded Polyvinyl Record Co.

What would transpire over the ensuing fifteen years, however, is something made of rock and roll legend—as mix CDs, word of mouth, and early file-sharing platforms allowed for the lore of an otherwise unknown band to grow into something much larger and wholly unexpected. With the addition of bassist/multi-instrumentalist and cousin Nate Kinsella, the quartet would reunite fifteen years later to international acclaim, introducing a second act that has long outlasted their original run.

Since reforming, American Football has released three additional self-titled records, while steering a natural evolution in their sound towards post-rock, post-punk, and more experimental influences. They've traversed the globe numerous times, finding embrace among a new legion of fans in well over a dozen countries. They've collaborated with the likes of Ethel Cain, Miya Folick, Slowdive's Rachel Goswell, Iron & Wine, Soccer Mommy, Hayley Williams, Wisp, Brendan Yates of Turnstile, and others. They've remained loyal to the fans who have found both comfort and inspiration in their nine-song debut, which was hailed as the 'most influential album in the genre' by Pitchfork, and they even teamed up with a close knit group of friends to buy 'The House,' preserving an unlikely musical landmark for generations to come.

Allowing the proverbial front door of 704 W High Street to gently close behind them, American Football, now a year shy of their 30th Anniversary, has spent 2026 celebrating the release of their fourth self-titled album—hailed as 'a stunning new peak' and 'remarkably expansive' by SPIN, 'a fraught and dizzying triumph' by Pitchfork, a 'work of startling, very human beauty' by Clash, 'their rawest album to date' by DIY, 'sonically audacious' by Huck, 'an album that rivals 'LP1' in its existential significance' by Visions, 'dark yet full of warmth' by Rolling Stone Germany, and 'the tight embrace you've been waiting for' by Rolling Stone Italy, among other publications.