If you read my last introducing piece on Free Throw an up and coming emo band from the states you’d know that I’m a fan of the Spotify discover playlist. If you’ve not read it yet, you can check it out HERE.
I’m sure you can also figure out that we’re an overgrown bunch of 20’s something emos here at With Drums and Colour, so when I heard of Chinese Football I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing.
Hailing from what is considered to be the punk capital of China, Wuhan, this quartet is producing quality “midwest” emo tunes and they’re not even from the states.
Before we get has the music, we first need to appreciate the name Chinese Football. This is no accident, especially when you take into account that one of the emo genres pioneers were called American Football and a barrage of sports themed band names have been spawned since, such as Modern Baseball, Canadian Softball (although a satirical emo band) and yes even Free Throw the band I mentioned further up. This is some very clever marketing on these guys front as they have even picked up the attention of Mike Kinsella of American Football as seen on his Instagram.
Chinese Football has an incredibly tight sound, the majority of their songs being dreamlike twinkly emo that you have come to expect from bands like American Football, This Town Needs Guns or Sunny Day Real Estate. It’s very nostalgic and familiar which is quite the feat considering most of the lyrics are in Mandarin. Don’t let this intimidate you however as it’s still very nice to listen to and I have gone out of my way to (badly) translate the lyrics from their Bandcamp.
I’d recommend anyone into the emo scene to check these guys out as they deserve the attention and it’s fantastic that the emo revival is in such full swing that it’s not exclusive to American Midwestern bands now (although was it ever?).
Check out their latest DIY music video and Bandcamp information below:
https://chinesefootball.bandcamp.com/
Caleb O’Neill