On their third album, Sports Team have undergone a remarkable metamorphosis. Where previous efforts showcased promising indie-rock juvenilia, ‘Boys These Days’ reveals a band transformed into something approaching the Pulp of their generation, complete with the Britpop naivety of early Supergrass and Elton John’s glam-pop magnetism.
The transformation is immediately apparent on opener I’m In Love (Subaru), which abandons their familiar indie guitars for full-blown saxophone solos and tiered harmonies that feel like they’ve been lifted from a chilled-out Grand Theft Auto radio station. It signals a profound sonic departure from 2022's ‘Gulp!’, one that places raging singalongs at the album’s beating heart.
The title track crystallises this evolution perfectly. Built around piano flourishes and funked-up basslines, it channels Jarvis Cocker’s sardonic wit while exploring generational tensions with surgical precision.
“Boys these days look like girls,” becomes both a punchline and a profound social observation in vocalist Alex Rice’s mouth, his words delivered with the kind of theatrical bombast that made Common People a generational anthem.
Throughout, Rice serves almost as a master of ceremonies, conducting his bandmates’ harmonies around his increasingly melodramatic delivery. Sensible launches a Pulp-like assault on wellness culture’s empty promises, while Bang Bang Bang fires shots at America’s numbness to their national obsession with guns, soundtracked by a very British take on country.
‘Boys These Days’ grows wilder with each track. Head to Space shoots off into the stars like a wild-eyed Prefab Sprout, while the penultimate song Bonnie sounds like a soul-obsessed, Cocker-fronted Gorillaz. The former is just fine, but the latter will have you vibing all day long. Like caterpillars emerging from cocoons, Sports Team have discovered they can fly. ‘Boys These Days’ proves they possess both the wit and musical sophistication to become the voice their generation desperately needs.
Sports Team Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Fri July 18 2025 - LONDON 100 Club
Wed November 05 2025 - MANCHESTER Manchester Academy 2
Thu November 06 2025 - GLASGOW Art School Glasgow
Fri November 07 2025 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute2
Sat November 08 2025 - LEEDS Leeds University Stylus
Wed November 12 2025 - BRIGHTON Patterns
Thu November 13 2025 - NORWICH Waterfront
Fri November 14 2025 - PORTSMOUTH Wedgewood Rooms
Sat November 15 2025 - LONDON Electric Brixton
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