We all know how disappointing Chinese football—the sport—can be, from its inability to compete on the international stage to decades of corruption scandals. But Chinese Football, the band from Wuhan, is a different story.

Since releasing their self-titled debut album in 2015, the emo math-rock four-piece has won over fans worldwide. With signature cartoon-style album covers and a sound that remains largely distinctive in China’s alternative music landscape, Chinese Football has built a devoted following far beyond its hometown.

If American Football can be considered the pioneer of Midwestern emo, then Chinese Football has played a similar part in China’s own emo revival. 

As for the band’s name, “It was just a joke,” frontman Xu Bo tells RADII. “When we formed the band, we never thought it would become our life’s work, so we didn’t put too much thought into the name.” Still, the association definitely comes with advantages. “Of course, we’ve benefited from having this name. We can’t deny that a lot of people first noticed Chinese Football because of it.”

Chinese Football’s self-titled debut opens with “Game Start,” offering a video game-inspired aesthetic that would become central to the band. Throughout the album and beyond, pop-punk riffs swagger in before giving way to uplifting math rock tunes; there is always a playful sense of rebellion.

When asked how they would define their sound, guitarist Wang Bo says, “We’re just making the music from our hearts.” Such a sentiment has carried Chinese Football through more than a decade together.

In 2017, the band released Here Comes a New Challenger!, the first installment of what would become its Game Trilogy. The albums created a meta-narrative centered around frontman Xu Bo trying to become a powerful rock star. Continue? Followed in 2019, before the full-length studio album Win&Lose completed the trilogy in 2022.

“This playground of life

Satisfy all your imaginations”

– Amusement Park Life, Win&Lose

Across the trilogy, themes of adventure and the rollercoaster of life are framed through a language of video games. But beneath the playfulness lies Xu’s soft-spoken voice and a melancholy that follows adolescence into adulthood.

“In terms of our approach to making music, not much has changed,” Xu says. “We still follow the principle of moving ourselves first.”

Win, Lose, and Everything Between

Despite its praise, Chinese Football’s latest album, Win&Lose, drew criticism from longtime fans who saw the record as a shift toward a more pop-oriented sound. Xu explains that, compared to past works, Win&Lose is an album that focuses on expressing itself with lyrics and vocals. So it’s only natural that it’s going to be thought of as pop-leaning. Xu says, “We’ve always been making music we enjoy at the moment, and that has never changed.”

Drummer Zheng Zili offers an analogy.

“Not every French restaurant has to make escargot and foie gras, and not every Chinese restaurant has to keep making Mapo Tofu. Chefs create fusion dishes according to their own taste. No matter where the food comes from, the most important thing is that it tastes good.”

Chinese Football’s evolution has unfolded alongside major changes in China’s alternative music scene. When The Big Band premiered in 2019, it propelled previously underground acts into the national spotlight, while social media and short-form video further transformed how independent music reaches audiences. To get better insight, we asked CF what their thoughts are on the impact of these platforms.

RADII: We’ve previously reported on the rise of internet-famous bands, particularly after The Big Band went viral. What are your thoughts on independent music becoming more mainstream through the internet, music reality shows, and social media?

Li Lixin: Through reality television, independent music was seen for the first time by large audiences who don’t entirely understand underground music. Back then, if there were a hundred people who disliked you, you might never know. Now, if only ten people dislike you, you can probably find a hundred posts about it online.

For Xu Bo, visibility and genuine engagement remain two very different things. “A song might be seen by millions of people because of a ten-second clip,” he says, “but how many of those people will listen to the entire album, go to a live performance, or actually become part of the music scene?”

The internet has always been a powerful tool. Xu continues, “Growth through live performances and building an audience online don’t conflict. Because of the internet, we as a band from Wuhan, China, have had opportunities to perform in Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America.”

Defining the Chinese Emo Sound

If you grew up in the West, you probably remember the emo kids look: thick eyeliner, massive fringes, and My Chemical Romance blasting through their headphones. But you can’t say the same about China. Between an intense education system, strict dress codes, and a complicated relationship with counterculture, the emo boom of the 2000s never took off in quite the same way. There was the Shamate crowd, but that’s another story.

In the West, emo has experienced something of a renaissance in recent years, with genres such as emo rap taking off into the mainstream.

So what does emo revival look like in China?

Xu Bo: In recent years, you can clearly feel that emo in China, especially Midwest emo, has received more and more attention. In terms of cultural meaning and expression, however, it is no longer simply a continuation of Western emo from the 2000s. It has incorporated the emotional experiences shared by many young people in East Asia, including pressure, loneliness, and pain.

China may have missed previous waves of emo revivals, but this time around Chinese emo has developed much closer connections with the international music scene. Perhaps that has to do with the prevalence of the internet too.

From Wuhan to the World

Chinese Football will begin its highly anticipated second Americas tour this September. During the band’s first visit to the continent in 2024, nearly all 12 shows were sold out.

But Chinese Football has never set out to become a representation of Chinese music abroad. Bassist Li Lixin tells RADII, “We’ve actually never particularly thought about making some kind of so-called ‘Chinese music.’ Music itself is enough to create an emotional connection between people.” Li also notes the growing interest from the West in Asian music and culture: “Perhaps we can serve as a gateway for them to explore more Chinese independent music.”

RADII: If you could recommend some Chinese artists or bands to international audiences, who would they be?

Wang Bo: Fayzz, Duck Fight Goose, Fazi, Zhang Xingchan, and my personal project 温柔 D·BOY.

Xu Bo: Pu Shu and The Flowers had the greatest impact on me. I’d recommend that international audiences check out Chestnut Bakery, yourboyfriendsucks!, The White Tulips, Carsick Cars, P.K.14, Wang Wen, Default, The Three Mice, PostmodernHippie, and A Hidden Trace.

In a 2023 interview with NME, Chinese Football said that its goal was “to break out of Asia and go to the world.” With that goal becoming realized, what comes next?

Zheng Zili: There’s a long road to walk between going somewhere and truly becoming part of that place.

Xu Bo: The world isn’t just Europe and North America. There are still so many places we want to go. For us, the next step isn’t simply performing in more countries. We want to truly enter more music scenes, meet more musicians, and connect with more audiences.

Chinese Football’s Occupy the Absence Tour will visit 21 cities in North America this autumn, with several dates already sold out. If you want to catch one of China’s most distinctive emo math-rock bands live, now is the best time to grab those tickets.

All images courtesy of Chinese Football