Sports Team return with an incredible bang on third album ‘Boys These Days’
The six-piece return with a bigger, bolder sound.
Photo: Press
Boys These Days is the long-awaited follow-up to the raucous, heartfelt, indie anthem-filled sophomore album Gulp!. On Gulp!, the band continued headlong with ammunition on indie dance floors and venues for beer-tossing and mosh pits with lyrics and guitars that packed a punch. This time round with Boys These Days, they are still at it with the catchy guitar riffs and sharp lyrics of middle-class mundanity, however, the band have now delved into playing with sounds reminiscent of the 80s, Bryan Ferry and Britpop whilst making it their own. These new explorations bring a new lively edge to the band’s sound that expand on the foundations of their first two albums with a new album that is as, if not more enjoyable than what came before.
The album opens up with the saxophone-loaded lead single I’m In Love (Subaru), a love song dedicated to, of all things, the Subaru Impreza WRX. Alex Rice swoons and croons “I’m in love / With a Subaru Impreza / Immaculate leather and chrome” over an instrumental drenched in the hypnotic, distinctive synths and saxophone that sound plucked from the 80s. Maybe a song dedicated to the feeling of satisfaction achieved by a car enthusiast when finally owning their dream car, or maybe a pessimist’s take on a capitalist world where owning a car is worth loving more than a person. Either way, this detour from Sports Team into a more restrained sound proves they have a knack for writing a love song, regardless if it’s about a car.
Following on from the love for a Subaru, general service is kind of resumed with the playful Boys These Days, a sardonic look at adolescence in modern life, and chanting Moving Together, a sarcastic outlook on settling down in a relationship with reference to “Our love has slipped / Into shopping lists”. Both tracks carry on with the controlled sound with pleasing piano riffs and strings that the band dabbled with but left out during the recording of their second album, which is a warm welcome.
Condensation and Sensible offer the classic catchy guitar, punchy drums and pointed vocals from Alex Rice that Sports Team have perfected with their style of indie rock. Condensation is the perfect restoration of the physical and emotional feeling experienced in a sweaty, packed venue at a gig with sometimes violent lyrics, such as “Know it feels like I’m dying when your fingertips unzip my skin”, to capture the physicality of a mosh pit. This is whilst Sensible delves into the themes of expectations of society in the modern world with hints of Britpop.
A whistling melody and a piano run begin the warm embrace of Planned Obsolescence, with vocal duties handed over to rhythm guitarist Rob Knagg, who provides a softer yet expressive performance. Bang Bang Bang is quite an on-the-nose title for a song about American gun culture and gun violence, which is accentuated by the Western-style sound that could belong in the Wild West. With the song topic being a diversion from the standard discussions of English culture, the distinct track is one of the standouts from the album, with its separable tone from the rest of the songs.
The jaunty, country-inspired Head to Space adheres to the energy expected by the band with a ‘honky-tonk’, buoyant beat with energetic drums and plucky guitars. This time the lyrics seem to suggest “To leave all your problems behind you” and head to space, whilst there may be a cheeky, slight mocking of certain people with money’s attempt to get to space rather than solve the problems on Earth. The penultimate track, Bonnie, one of my favourite tracks on the album, features whispering vocals and a funky, driving drumbeat and bassline that creates an irresistible groove.
Closing the album is the reflective and Pulp-esque Maybe When We’re 30 with uplifting melodies and a realistic ode on growing up. The song is maybe a satirical take on hitting the ordinariness of middle life where you and your peers may start settling down with the band suggesting “Well, maybe we could buy a house and we could have a kid”, “We’ll write bitter little letters to the council ‘bout the bins” and “Spend our days on Facebook” as possible activities. Despite the mundanity presented in the lyrics, the melodic closing track on the album gives a sense of hope in the idea of reaching the centre of adulthood.
With witty, introspective songs about modern life, social media and settling down, this fun, playful third album from the band is just a reminder that we all need a bit of Sports Team in our lives.
Boys These Days is out now via Bright Antenna.