American Football have taken The Cure’s ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ somewhere slower and stranger, folding the 1979 song into their own ‘Never Meant’ during an intimate performance for SiriusXM. The arrangement joins two recognisable guitar lines without pretending they were written in the same decade.
The performance was recorded for a SiriusXMU Session in Nashville. Mike Kinsella, Steve Holmes, Steve Lamos and Nate Kinsella stripped down the arrangement, slowed its pace and let the familiar melodies pass through the group’s intricate guitars. A trumpet solo gives the song another unexpected turn, while ‘Never Meant’ supplies the bridge to American Football’s own history.
Speaking about the choice, Kinsella said The Cure had helped shape him both as a songwriter and as a person. In comments reported by Pitchfork, he explained that the band removed much of the original song’s jangle and leaned into the longing beneath its surface.
That is a telling decision. The Cure’s 1979 single is brisk and melodic even as Robert Smith describes the difficulty of showing emotion. American Football built a substantial part of their legacy around refusing to hide that vulnerability behind volume or swagger. Their signature 1999 track ‘Never Meant’ remains a touchstone of Midwest emo precisely because its delicate arrangement never disguises the damage inside the words.
The cover also comes at a particular point in American Football’s career. After years in which their self-titled debut acquired a reputation far beyond its original audience, the reunited band has continued to make new music rather than simply tour a beloved record. Their fourth self-titled album, widely called LP4, arrived this year.
During the SiriusXM session, the group also performed ‘Wake Her Up’ and ‘No Feeling’ from the new album. SiriusXM has shared details of the performance, with a clip available to watch and the full session available through its service.
This is an arrangement that makes sense because the influences are audible without either band needing to sound alike. The Cure’s pop instincts and American Football’s deliberate, open-ended guitar lines meet in a space that leaves room for a trumpet to say what the singer doesn’t.
Watch the session to hear the transition for yourself. The most revealing part isn’t that American Football chose a Cure classic; it’s how naturally it slips into their own song.
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