Sports Team
Deep Down Happy

For years the United Kingdom has been searching for a new wave of guitar bands capable of replicating the now dated "golden era" that gave birth to names like Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, and Franz Ferdinand.

Many have come close, practically all have failed, but the whirlwind of NME covers seems never-ending. With The 1975 now heading towards an exaggerated eclecticism that's taking them to shores too popular for purists, it seems a wave of artists has arrived capable of awakening a genre very much tied to British tradition, but in these years really too much in the shadows: between the post-punk soaked in the punk rock of Idles and the more "refined" proposition of the wildly successful Fontaines D.C., these Sports Team come into play. And they really risk being the classic third party that benefits when two are fighting.

Everything needed is here: mind-blowing (and perhaps delusional) claims of Gallagher-esque memories ("we are the greatest band in the world"), a frontman who mixes a vocal style à la Jarvis Cocker (the vocal resemblance is impressive) with a physique halfway between Ricky Wilson and Johnny Borrell, and a freshly signed contract with the super major Island Records. And the explosive mix risks detonating immediately with force.

"Deep Down Happy" is indeed an absolute bomb: barely in their twenties, these wacky kids from South London (where they all live together) deliver one of the most sensational debuts in British rock in the last ten years. The ground was ready, with important sold-out dates already after the first two EPs, but these twelve tracks completely shuffle the deck and deeply excite.

The furious punk in the style of Idles' "Lander" (one of the few still unreleased tracks, since the album has been preceded by no less than eight singles) might suggest an alignment with those wildly successful sounds, but already from the Coxon-esque fascinations of "Here It Comes Again" to the Bowiesque closure of "Stations Of The Cross," the guys masterfully blend everything beautiful produced in the UK in recent years, managing to insert one chorus more beautiful and effective than the next. "Camel Crew," already beloved by fans, is present here in a more refined version but is no less effective, and it's not even the most appetizing dish of the meal: "Going Soft," the very funny "Here's The Thing," and the frighteningly focused "The Races" and "Kutcher" are equally impressive.

Welcome to Sports Team, with the hope they manage to confirm themselves in future installments. Good old English rock could really use it.

Best track: Here's The Thing