Review

In the tumultuous carousel of British indie, Sports Team have always spun somewhere between lad rock pantomime and postmodern social commentary. With Boys These Days, their third studio album, the six-piece from Cambridge sharpen their satire and soften their edges, delivering a record that is at once more polished, more melancholic, and – dare I say – more mature. From the off, there’s an unmistakable shift in tone. Gone is the relentless, pub-stained bombast of their debut Deep Down Happy. Instead, Boys These Days opens with “The Drop”, a slow-burning, synth-laced reflection on urban malaise and growing up in a country that’s quietly coming undone. It’s less lager-sloshed night bus, more morning-after on the Thameslink. That’s not to say the band have lost their bite. Tracks like “Cool It Kid” and “No One’s Coming to Save You” lurch and swagger with the same acerbic wit we’ve come to expect. Alex Rice, ever the performative frontman, delivers his lines with a knowing sneer, skewering gentrifiers, tech bros, and performative politics with glee. He’s still Britain’s answer to a half-cut auctioneer ranting at a village fête – and I mean that with affection. What’s surprising, though, is how emotionally resonant the record becomes in its latter half. “Little Sins” feels almost tender, with Rob Knaggs’ guitar work drifting into shoegaze territory, while “Push/Pull” (a clear standout) plays like a breakup song for an entire generation. Even the production, more refined than on previous efforts, suggests a band less concerned with proving themselves and more willing to explore. Of course, not everything lands. At times the album gets a bit too self-aware for its own good – the title track, while catchy, borders on pastiche – and there's a lingering sense that Sports Team are grappling with their own identity as much as the country's. Are they commentators or participants? Parody or pioneers? The line’s never been blurrier. Still, Boys These Days is a brave and oddly beautiful evolution. It won't be for everyone – and nor should it be. But in a landscape saturated with identikit indie outfits clinging to Oasis-lite choruses and Instagram filters, Sports Team remain that rarest of things: a band with something to say, and the gall to say it.

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