This album is truly exceptional. The singer/guitarist, Mike Kinsella, was the drummer for the band Cap'n Jazz starting when he was about 8. He and the other members have been in so many different projects and bands since then. If you haven't heard his solo music, I would absolutely recommend it. He goes under the name Owen. Back to AF, it's not often that you hear an album so far ahead of its time. It just started to blow up a couple years back, 13 or so years after it was released, and it sounds brand new. It has been such a huge influence on emo, mathrock, and most "indie" bands since then. They really took the twinkle style guitars from Cap'n Jazz and put them in an easily accessible setting, making odd time signatures sound fluid and normal. I can't say enough about how great these guys are.
Thanks for letting me know about the members and their other projects -- I'll definitely have to check them out as I've been really digging the American Football album. And I completely agree that this album is so far ahead of its time -- it sounds so fresh, it could have been released last week and I'd never had known any different.