Sports Team - Deep Down Happy Review
While it has some strong moments with catchy hooks, the actual lyrical content is almost embarrassing with its near-snobbish attitude.
If you haven’t heard of Sports Team then count yourself lucky. The band I’ve heard raged about for almost two years have finally released their debut album ‘Deep Down Happy’. Having met whilst studying at Cambridge University Sports Team have slowly but surely grown and are currently signed to major label Island Records. ‘Lander’ is the first track. It sparks in with screams from lead singer ‘I wanna be a lawyer, or someone who hunts foxes’. It’s almost like this is tongue in cheek but being realistic, this is the language of the Cambridge elite. They’re quoted as saying ‘Oh, we’re poets, we got our lyrics by sitting in a pub and channelling James Joyce.’ I mean? Do I need to go on?
‘Here It Comes Again’ sounds a bit like Los Campesinos first EP and is definitely a pretty tune like many of the tracks on this album. ‘Going Soft’ has a similar swagger to the two prior tracks but often feels dull and lifeless with its repetitive beat. ‘Camel Crew’ has more of an emotive power than other tracks on this. Whether that’s to do with their apparent digs at now irrelevant London band HMLTD and their take on avant-garde music is another question. ‘Long Hot Summer’ has more repetitive riffs and feels lazy. ‘Feels Like Fun’ is similarly plagued by this curse of repetitive riffs present on other tracks on this record, rendering the song boring and unexciting.
‘Here’s The Thing’ is infectious but, as we’ve all learned, infections aren’t exactly great. This song will get trapped in your head with its catchy hooks and simple chord progressions. Lyrically, they’re parodying a tory voter (with unsurprising accuracy). ‘The Races’ was the second single I heard from this record and after hearing the first I wasn’t blown away. But now in the context of the rest of the album I can see why they chose to release this and ‘Here’s The Thing’ as singles, as they definitely have the most energy. There’s something about the music here that makes you feel nostalgic for the wailing guitars of many indie pop acts.
‘Born Sugar’ sounds like it could be a Maroon 5 song; that’s how generic the pop songwriting is on this record. ‘Fishing’ once again reminds me of that twee indie pop vibe of the mid-naughties. However, because of front man Alex Rice’s endless whiney obnoxious vocal delivery, you lose that warm happy feeling you normally feel with sound and are left with unnerving disgust.
‘Kutcher’ is clearly about one of a band member’s past relationships and there’s some real gesturing going on in this song. The character described in the song notedly wants to be seen of as a good humble guy whilst simultaneously wanting to be put on a pedestal through lyrics like ‘I just want to be your mid-naughties MTV star’. ‘Stations of the Cross’ is the last track on the record and makes you question what you’ve just listened to. Lyrically this track and this whole album are both beyond questionable. But, not only that, the music and arrangements are endlessly repetitive and borderline plagiaristic.
The album sums up the type of person who would enjoy this album in the lyrics throughout. While it has some strong moments with catchy hooks, the actual lyrical content is almost embarrassing with its near-snobbish attitude. Sports Team are trying to be the Blur to The 1975’s Oasis, but in comparison to those, both of these bands are shockingly boring and still just as derivative. Unfortunately neither of these bands are particularly deserving of their places within the industry and unfortunately their cultural critique amounts to little of substance. One of my main issues with Sports Team isn’t their apparent ‘I don’t give a shit, look at me’ attitude it’s simply their boring delivery and underwhelming lyricism. Genuinely, who cares that Spoons and ‘the Slug and lettuce’ get a mention in one of your songs — who is this appealing to? Altogether, they’re sonically similar to Los Campesinos if they had been decapitated and had Kaiser Chiefs rammed down their throats without any significant enjoyable. Ultimately it’s just fifteen years too late to have any relevance or originality.
