Mike Kinsella said: "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. 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."

The tracks were recorded between stops on the band’s No Feeling Tour in Nashville in August, during their first performance on SiriusXMU. Hosted by Josiah Lambert, the session aired last week with an interview. The double single is now available on all platforms, and yes, they do gesture at the "Never Meant" riff during their rendition of The Cure's 1979 standalone single.

The cover is accompanied by “Wake Her Up” from , the band’s fourth album from May this year.

The band’s seven-piece touring lineup features on the sessions, with Cory Bracken on glockenspiel, Justine Fallon on backing vocals, and multi-instrumentalist Mike Garzon. The cover is the second in the band’s nearly 30-year career, following Mazzy Star's “Fade Into You” (featuring Miya Folick), which they released in 2021.

American Football continue their 2026 No Feeling World Tour this autumn and winter. After runs in the US, UK, Europe, Asia, and Mexico, they will play dates across North and South America, including Santiago on 28 November, São Paulo on 30 November, and Buenos Aires on 2 December. The band have partnered with PLUS1 so that $1 from every ticket sold goes towards organisations protecting immigrant rights and supporting deportees, migrants, and refugees. The partnership has raised over $33,000 to date.