REVIEW: Football, etc. – "The Draft"

In my very short review of the Football, etc. EP, First Down, I was very clearly stoked on it. It was four songs of great emo music. They were coming across as one of the best contemporary bands in the genre. I still stand by that opinion, but maybe the honeymoon period is over.

Now, don’t get me wrong, this new full length is still good. The same points of praise still stand. The problem is, in full length form, it just does not feel the same. Having listened to this record many times, there is something about it that does not sit right with me. While the band is certainly adept at making great sounding 2nd wave style emo, they do not quite branch out beyond the formula of the genre. The average length of all 10 songs is about 3 minutes (shortest being 1:22, longest being 4:26. The rest all fall somewhere in the 3-3.5 minute mark). All are mid-tempo. More or less, you have 10 songs that are all pretty similar sounding. While it makes for a cohesive half hour (give or take) of music, it can also get kind of boring. Couple this with the fact that Lindsay Minton (guitar/vocals) tends to draw every word out (on damn near every song), and you have a recipe for a slightly sub-par release. My last minor gripe is the artwork. It looks ok, but kind of like someone resized the picture to LP sized on an old version of MS Paint.  And, it is more than a little Cure-y

But, this is by no means a bad release. The songs are generally good. Lyrically, the band remains spot on (with the exception of Lambeau). The honesty and conviction are there, but it is tempered by the somewhat repetitious music. Of special mention, the songs “X’s And O’s” and “Hail Mary” are fantastic. “Flood” might be my favourite track on the whole record. This record is a great example of how strong lyrics can make up for less strong instrumentation.

I know this review seems kind of negative, but I don’t mean it too. This band is still very strong in regards to the music they play. It is easy to draw lazy comparisons to Rainer Maria or to the vocal stylings of Kim Deal. But, my previous statements on this band still stand. If the whole post-emo indie rock thing is your bag (as it is mine), there is no reason why you should not own this record. There are some flaws, but it is still a great record overall.

Official Site
Bandcamp Page (stream some stuff)
Count Your Lucky Stars (U.S. Release)
strictly no capital letters (Europe release)