UK’s Sports Team Releases New Record and US Tour Dates
Sports Team
The last time Sports Team came to America, they were robbed at gunpoint at a gas station in Vallejo, their tour van broken into.
As Sports Team noted on Instagram,
“Just been robbed at gun point 10 minutes into the US tour. Stopped for coffee. Man runs in saying some guys are smashing into a van. Ran out to try to stop it and find masked guys ransacking the van. Start yelling and they pull out a gun. Police response was “submit an online report.” Lost a lot of personal gear, but they didn’t get the instruments so driving on to Sacramento to play tonight. They can take our Nintendo Switches but they can never take our ability to play rock songs about motorways. In all seriousness pretty shocking how resigned everyone seemed to be to it. 'It happens.' 9am at some petrol station Starbucks. Wild.”
Carrying on with the tour anyway is a testament of their sheer will to play, no matter what.
As drummer Al Greenwood tells BBC,
"'We're definitely not going to let this put us off. And ultimately, it really makes you reflect on things to be grateful for, both here and at home.'"
This time around, Sports Team are ready to conquer the US. Opening for Supergrass, beginning in Mexico and ending in Boston, September promises to be an exciting month for American fans.
And that’s to say nothing of the dazzling new record. Released Friday, May 23rd, Sports Team’s Boys These Days weaves tales of our current societal and political realities, with incisive commentary wrapped up tight in satirical quips, offering a bit of levity in-between observations of a society gone mad, of a future uncertain, of hatred unmoored. Sports Team explains the title track:
“‘Boys These Days’ is Supergrass’ ‘Alright’ if it was written by Ricard Littlejohn: ‘We are old, we are trapped, dentistry is a woke mind virus.’ Ultimately it's a song about the weaponisation of nostalgia, sung from the perspective of a self-pitying bigot. There's this endless generational conflict between baby boomers who see themselves as stoic, hard-working, and thrifty, and the feckless young with their creamy coffees and ungodly electronic cigarettes. I feel like that chorus line, ‘boys these days look like girls’ could be taken from almost any generations’ equivalent of the Daily Mail. Beatles fans with bowl-cuts (‘boys these days look like girls’). Hippies (‘boys these days look like girls’). David Beckham (‘boys these days look like girls’). Just Stop Oil. Etc. Etc. Etc. You can imagine some pub-bore in ancient Golgotha whipping it out at the crucifixion.’”
Sonically, the track, “Boys These Days,” is an upbeat, jangly rocker with a groove that will keep you dancing and lines that border on the uproarious ("when I was your age, we didn't even have doors, we just had/playing in the traffic with rocks"), a musical glee that feels like the advent of summer or a lottery ticket that’s a confirmed winner.
“I’m In Love (Subaru)” begins with groovy saxophone opening the track, a fitting instrument for Sports Team’s lyrics about Bill Clinton, giving a nod to their American audience:
Said my US president fucks
With history down a trunk
Well reap what you sow
And Bill doesn't blow his saxophone
On daytime shows any more
A wash of harmony falls around chorus, leaving the listener fully-focused on the words and the stability of the vocal performance.
“Bang Bang Bang” is a country-esque intro, suddenly picking up speed into a driving, western-punk-laced chorus.
There is something for everyone on Boys These Days, and that’s what makes the Sports Team so iconic, with a massive future ahead of them.
Listen to the record here:
Catch Sports Team on tour!
Sep 2 - Mexico City, MX - Metropolitan Theatre
Sep 5 - Los Angeles, CA - The Palladium
Sep 6 - San Francisco, CA - The Warfield
Sep 9 - Chicago, IL - The Riviera Theatre
Sep 11- New York, NY - Pier 17
Sep 12 - Boston, MA - MGM Music Hall