The Sports are a bedroom pop / indie rock band from Columbus, Ohio. On Cheerleading, their debut EP, the band utilise quirky instrumentation and irregular song structures to create sad-shaded indie pop. And if their name is making you self-conscious of your frail and pasty body, The Sports are not as sporty as they sound, as lead Cameron Carr explains:
“We’re not the sports in the athletics sense, but in the sense of a person who puts up with the struggles of life. This isn’t cheerleading in the athletics sense, but in the sense of supporting someone through the sad times and the struggles. Hence the artwork. We hope listeners can appreciate our music as not just singing sad songs for the sake of being sad, but singing sad songs so we can feel better.”
The gentle acoustic opening of ‘My Life Is Like a Merchant Ships Song’ segues into urgent indie pop, complete with perky percussion and handclaps. But the lyrics tell another story, one that belies the sunny nature of the music.
“But god damn I’m scared that I will lose my only friend
I know I’m wrong, I know you’re right
‘Just give it time, stay here tonight'”
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Follow-up ‘Rebecca’ feels bright and sunny, with strains of Paul Simon’s Graceland, the perfect song for a understatedly happy summer morning. ‘Dreams’ is softer and sadder, an acoustic track made heavy by reverby background guitar and an atmosphere of sorrow, while ‘Home At Last’ has a see-sawing motion, with bursts of instrumentation interspersed between quieter periods, the floating violin adding a further melancholic edge and inching things closer to the luscious orchestral pop of Fanfarlo’s early efforts. The lyrics, detailing thoughts on loneliness, are delivered with increasing desperation as the percussion gets big and brassy.
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Closer ‘Thank You, Mr Yuker’ has a twitchy, mathy element, but overall the song has a wistful air, mainly due to Carr’s vocals and the background violin. The final section builds into a climax, the vocals little more than cries as the music crashes and sears, the second example that The Sports can write a killer build up that culminates in catharsis.
You can get Cheerleading now via The Sports Bandcamp page.
Photo credit Sierra Mollenkopf