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Chinese Football

From Wikipedia - Reading time: 5 min
This article is about the Chinese indie rock band. For the practice of football in the territory of the People's Republic of China, see Football in China.
Chinese Football
Background information
OriginWuhan, China
GenresChinese rock, indie rock, math rock, Midwest emo
Years active2011–present
LabelsWild Records
Members
  • Xu Bo
  • Wang Bo
  • Li Lixing
  • Zheng Zili
WebsiteChinese Football on Bandcamp

Chinese Football is a Chinese indie rock and math rock band. It was founded in 2011, in Wuhan, China. The band self publishes their music under Xu Bo's own Wild Records label.[1]

Chinese Football is one of the few indie bands in China to get an international audience.[1] Its style has been described as both math rock and midwest emo.[2]

Musical style

[edit]

Chinese Football is influenced by pop punk, j-pop, math rock, and midwest emo, with melodies primarily drawing from math rock as well as electronic elements inspired by j-pop.[2] Lead guitarist Xu Bo listed bands Envy, Toe, The Get Up Kids, Jimmy Eat World, The Sea and Cake, and Yo La Tengo as influences, as well as the album 我去两千年 (I Went to 2000) by Pu Shu.[3] Although their name often prompts comparison with American Football, both bands noted that their style was quite divergent, with American Football using more dream pop elements and Chinese Football having more elements of pop punk and math rock.[4]

Describing the lyrical themes of his music, Xu has stated "The lyrics are all about my personal perceptions. confusion, contradiction, frustration… As a small, more or less incompetent person."[3]

History

[edit]

Chinese Football was founded by Xu Bo and Wang Bo after meeting online via bulletin board system in 2011, both of them having just left other bands.[3] Xu named the band after the fellow emo-math rock band American Football, although the band is not well known in China (Xu noted that Chinese fans wondered if they played football).[3]

The first album of Chinese Football was released in 2015, the self titled Chinese Football.[5]

The band has anime characters on all its album covers, drawn by a friend of Xu Bo with the pseudonym of Space Layout.[6]

The band created a trilogy of EPs themed around video games, called the Game trilogy. The first one was called Here Comes a New Challenger, the second was Continue?, and the third was Win & Lose.[7] The album had a meta theme about Xu Bo's desire to become a famous rockstar.[8]

Continue? was released in 2019, and there were two music videos for the songs "Continue" and "Electronic Girl".[9] The album's music was recorded in their hometown in Wuhan.[10]

In 2019, the band opened for its inspiration American Football during their world tour in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.[8]

In summer 2021, the band started recording their first full length album since 2015 called Win & Lose. They started a tour to promote the album around China in October 2021, although restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic in China caused delays. While the album was originally meant to be released that fall, Xu Bo delayed it to 2022 due to a feeling of "not being completely satisfied". Win & Lose had a mixed reception in China, with its more pop sound leading to the band called "traitors". However, the album sold well, reaching the top of the math rock section of Bandcamp.[1]

In June 2024, Chinese Football announced their first tour in North America, which they scheduled for October of the year.[11]

Discography

[edit]
  • Chinese Football EP (2015)
  • Chinese Football (2015)
  • Here Comes a New Challenger! (2017)
  • Continue? (2019)
  • Win & Lose (2022)[8][12]

Band members

[edit]
  • Xu Bo – guitar & vocals[13]
  • Li Lixing – bass & vocals
  • Wang Bo – guitar
  • Zheng Zili – drums[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Newby, Jake (2023-02-17). "Chinese Football: "Our goal in 2023 is to break out of Asia and go to the world"". NME. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  2. ^ a b Oxenstierna, Carolina (2 March 2022). "Chinese Football: The "Midwest Emo" band of Wuhan". The Georgetown Independent. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  3. ^ a b c d e Bote, David (2023-04-27). "meet Chinese Football, excellent Chinese Indie band with Emo refinements". Archysport. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  4. ^ Grogan, Bryan (15 July 2019). "How a Quirkily Named Chinese Band Got the Attention of US Rock Legends". That's Online. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  5. ^ "Six Thirty Recordings Membawa Chinese Football Gelar Konser Pertama di Jakarta". Whiteboard Journal. 2019-10-10. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  6. ^ Kanazawa, Takahiro (2019-07-19). "Chinese Football". Metropolis Japan. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  7. ^ "Chinese Football at Canvas | Music in Manchester". Oxford Road Corridor. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  8. ^ a b c Ng, Scott (2023-01-03). "Chinese Football release final chapter of their 'Game Trilogy' with new album 'Win&Lose'". NME. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  9. ^ Costigan, Johanna (2019-09-28). "Friday Song: Wuhan band Chinese Football asks us to be small". The China Project. Retrieved 2024-05-16.
  10. ^ "Chinese Football interview: The Wuhan-based indie-rock band chat about their sound, the 'Game' trilogy and their quirky name". Young Post. 2019-07-28. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  11. ^ Hatfield, Amanda (June 4, 2024). "Chinese Football announce first-ever North American tour". Brooklyn Vegan.
  12. ^ Griffith, William (2023-03-19). "China: Chinese Football – "Win & Lose" LP". beehype. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  13. ^ Newby, Jake (17 March 2020). "Wuhan Musician Xu Bo: "I'm Still Optimistic About the Future" — RADII". RADII. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Football
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