Disclosure: I'm a lover not a writer. My objective faculties are compromised by passion. My hearing isn't as good as it used to be so lyrical references may be flawed too.
Deep Down Happy has been a long time coming. It has arrived both later than planned - and then earlier than first delayed - amidst the maelstrom of seismic world events. That it arrives in a world so changed by events paradoxically makes this debut feel in part like a retrospective collection rather than a debut.
The album launch we would have had with a string of intimate record store gigs and home-grown publicity stunts will never be. Instead the album has to stand by itself and compete in a world where our attention is elsewhere.
“Oh, you’ve been waiting for a while" is the fitting opening cry. In Lander, we have a abrupt start. Rather than the accessible indie pop tune that we may have expected, we are instead dealt a sonic assault par excellence.
Casting aside the rule book, Sports Team's lead singer Alex Rice does not even voice the opening track. Instead song writer and guitarist Robert Knaggs delivers more than sings a monologue atop rising and falling waves of sound. His biting words a lament on the banality and hollowness of small town existence. Life and expectations in hollowed out satellite towns in the orbit and shadow of the capital. "There's no club in this town any more. But if you want to do drugs you could always go to London"
By the last 30 seconds of Lander when Knagg's barbed rant is spent we are left with the fabulous Wedding Present-esque wall of guitar, underpinned with Ben Mack's keyboards, thumping bass from Oli Dewdney and swirling drum patterns from Al Greenwood. It finishes as it starts abruptly leaving this listener hungry.
Singer Alex Rice is now into the fray with a string of more familiar uptempo tunes. Dazed only momentarily by Lander, we are swept along at pace. Game on.
Here it Comes Again works up a sweat, Going Soft in its wake. With some signature smart word play, likened already to Brit Pop royalty Blur and Pulp, the band poke fun at the world and themselves. Their ability to craft compact indie anthems must now be unquestioned.
The side swipes continue in re-recorded fan favourite Camel Crew. The album's frenetic tempo is easing by now, but the choruses still rousing. Fans may be divided as which version of is best. I like both but am sold on reworking for this album as it helps push back against familiarity of the tracks for those of us already invested. The fresh recording has a sharpness. Lead guitarist Henry Young's brief solo is simple but bites like the lyrics. Brings a tear to my eye too...
Taking the tempo down. The mood changes for Long Hot Summer. Robert Knaggs is back on vocals. Sports Team again content to mix things up. Gravelly vocals muse on a ill matched relationship (with person or place it's not immediately clear) "I'd rather be dead than caught in your web". The side one closer (remember when LPs had sides) picks up the pace and sees Rice back with the vocal distortion turned up. Railing against the suit and tie. "You know it feels like fun" repeats the ranting outro.
Wrapped with a lyrical twist Sports Team's observations on the mundane of middle england, with neat character based narrative, often include some political bite. Their politics may be wrapped in silk glove and delivered in an upbeat pop tune but the lyrical pen cuts and jabs like a blade. For side two this politics bubbles up. In much radio played Here's the Thing, a Rice and Knaggs double act call out accepted injustices and self righteous simplistic fixes to the world's problems, they're all just "Lies, Lies, Lies". Next The Races, a caricature of your least favourite flag waving uncle.
Fresh song Born Sugar "The Golden Watch Brigade don't ever watch the game" is followed by singles recent -Fishing - and past -Kutcher. Both live favourites and each worth the entrance fee. Again the number of tracks that have already seen the light of day may leave those already familiar feeling hungry for more, but why not share these treats more widely...
If Lander is the opening call, then final track Stations of the Cross provides the ending response. Companion book ends to this debut collection. The religious ritual-like progression of the twenty-something leaving education and heading inexorably to the rat race. The closing rant sees Alex Rice's angst a reverberation of Robert Knaggs' opening diatribe. London's Calling. "If you want to find love you could always go to London"
Is this a number one album? If Sports Team can unite those of us old enough to have enjoyed the first wave of indie with those young enough for all this to feel entirely new, then why not? It would be a remarkable achievement (and in the mid week charts it is already leading the pack propelled by pre-order bundles an invested fan base and decent radio play).
"Album of the decade"? I hope not. This is a good debut. No question. But albums two or four must surely be contenders, we just need to ensure they are still around to make them.
To sum up, buy it and try it, it'll be worth it (at time of writing it's on offer on iTunes and only £4.99 on Amazon for a CD). If enough people invest in this album we'll hopefully get a second helping soon.
More please Sports Team.
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