Our editor’s pick of the albums reviewed on these pages during the past seven days is Deep Down Happy, the debut album from Sports Team – revisit the review and check out the album via Spotify:
“Sports Team have been, up to this point, defined by their live sets, crammed as they are with wilful freneticism.”
“Whilst the songs themselves are not exactly disenfranchised youth anthems, they’ve given a voice to a jaded and confused (and salivating) generation. Their gigs have been testament to this, Alex Rice flouncing joyfully around the stage like the lovechild of Jagger and Morrissey.”
“Meanwhile, along the way they’ve released a string of relentlessly upbeat, catchy singles, all of which have reflected their modus operandi in some way or another. As such, this debut album is both successful before it’s even released, and sometimes suffers from over-familiarity (despite the mystifying omission of M5).”
“The paradox is very apparent; chirpy, guitar-led pop that takes its lead from the art and Brit genres is a formula that rarely fails. The music doesn’t break any new ground, yet is driven by an enthusiasm that only youth can provide. Here It Comes Again features Coxon-esque guitar work beneath the snappy, ever-so-slightly distorted vocals, while Going Soft leans heavily on a lick that echoes The Jam’s English Rose. Meanwhile, on Feels Like Fun they go full on Strokes, the crunching guitar lending itself well to the rolling bass, only some quiet mellotron adding sprinkling to the indie noise. The band’s uniformity of spirit is best reflected on opening track Lander as the sextet fly out of the traps as one, while on Camel Crew they go full glam rock.”