HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- "Football Season Is Over" is a poignant way to title your suicide note.

Rogue author Hunter S. Thompson signed off thusly in 2005, and Huntsville indie-rockers Or The Children's Crusade figured the rubric would work for their first full-length album, too. "It's based on the feeling of the end of something," OTCC singer/guitarist Alex Wright says of the LP name. "There's a lot about death on the record."

Wright is seated with guitarist Nathan Barnett and drummer Jonathan Shrout at a circular metal table on the Lone Goose Saloon patio. Guitarist W.K. Medlen, bassist Jim Craft and keyboardist Justin Edwards, who are not present, complete the group's lineup.

Shrout, who wears brown-frame glasses and a Davy Jones-ish haircut, elaborates on their LP. "Some of these songs are three years old," Shrout says. He and Wright are drinking pints of Monkeynaut and smoking American Spirits. "And a lot of people in the band have undergone changes during that time. We've seen some friends come and go."

Ironically, OTCC are releasing "Football Season Is Over" during the opening weekend of 2012 college pigskin. They'll be selling CDs at their 8 p.m. Saturday show at Lowe Mill ($5 cover), and the next day, pay-what-you-want digital downloads will be available on orthechildrenscrusade.com.

A tattoo of an octopus sprawls out from underneath the left sleeve of Barnett's V-neck T-shirt. I ask him about "In Case," one of two "Football Season Is Over" tracks posted on OTCC's Bandcamp page. The tune features walls of U2-style endless-guitar, and Barnett says that's a result of OTCC trying to maximize their three guitarists. "A lot of times when you see two or three guitars in a band, they're all playing the same thing," Barnett says. "We tried to make it dynamic, so if we're playing a live show and one person's missing you can tell the difference."

OTTC recorded "Football Season Is Over" in Wright's Five Points home, which has hardwood floors and high ceilings. Shrout engineered, mixed and mastered the LP, using the house's acoustics and plentiful rooms to capture plenty of natural reverb, as opposed to adding it later digitally. Because of the musicians' crammed schedules, most tracking was done one-on-one with Shrout. Wright works as a clothing store receiving manager, Shrout waits tables, Medlen teaches, Barnett is a database manager, Craft is a software engineer and Edwards is a research assistant.

Barnett cites the shape-shifting closing track "Swans At Dawn" as a key cut from the album, which contains some xylophone and keyboard embellishments. Of course, the band's listening habits seeped into the sound - for example, Wright was spinning lots of Neutral Milk Hotel and Bruce Springsteen. (There's a pin depicting The Boss on the green visor Wright is sporting today.)

"I think honesty in music is something that's gone out, and not enough people are doing it," Wright says. His speaking voice is a dead ringer for "The Social Network" actor Jesse Eisenberg's, while his singing hits some Tom Petty tones. "I look at lyrics as a journal entry. You can't go back and change them because you're a little uncomfortable with them now. These are the true things we were feeling."