American Football Perform Stripped-Down Cover of The Cure’s “Boys Don’t Cry” for SiriusXM: Watch

American Football performed an acoustic rendition of The Cure’s classic song “Boys Don’t Cry” for SiriusXM.

The emo band’s melancholy, stripped-down performance was part of the inaugural session for SiriusXMU, which airs tonight, October 7th, at 9:00 p.m. Serving as their first-ever acoustic performance as a full band (and their second cover song, following a 2021 rendition of Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You”), American Football’s take on the song is much more solemn and understated; it also includes a nod to their beloved 1999 song “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 said.

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“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.” Watch the band’s cover below. American Football have a few 2026 tour dates left on the docket, including some December shows in the US with she’s green. Get tickets to see them here.