Weekend
Sports
San Francisco, CA
“Slow burn with no shortage of noise”
For a debut album, Sports makes an assured statement that’s equal parts No Age and shoegaze. Like their Slumberland label mates, Weekend is loud. Really loud. On opening track “Coma Summer,” the guitar is relentless, Shaun Durkan’s howl cuts through layers of fuzz and thrashing drums keep up a frightening momentum. Sports draws you into a dissonant and distorted dream state, then jolts you awake. There’s a compelling structure and drive from beginning to end, as the guitars dive into the deep end and Durkan sings into the void. It churns and pushes frantically. It’s crude, relentless, but offers up an accessible kind of racket – a nostalgic darkness with a shot of melody just when you need it.
While Durkan’s vocals are mostly inaudible, stirring lyrics will be suddenly intelligible, then howled repeatedly and mercilessly. When you hear, “There’s something in our blood,” over and over, there is no choice but to feel the darkness within and embrace it.
As he yells, “Go on…Go on…” the squall unfortunately ceases. This new band needs to keep the noise coming. (Slumberland Records)
Produced by Weekend // Engineered and mixed by Monte Vallier // Mastered by Mike Wells