Deep Down Happy

This was solidly enjoyable 4 but as it went on it took off to the moon. Camel crew and the last 4 songs are all amazing.

Wow wasn’t sure what a group called “Sports Team” might be, but I loved this! Something really interesting and cool in the way they construct a song really catches my ear. Terrific!

Good rock album with a lot of energy and funny lyrics. Especially "Here's the Thing" is very very very catchy.

Very energetic. Vocals could be a bit better. But overall, good album

Enjoyed this album a lot. Not sure if it just caught me at the right time and place, but I’m not mad at our situationship.

Rock alternativo. Me ha gustado. Un 4, venga.

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Camel crew, Here’s the thing

Great energy, good fun indie album

It sounds like Art Brut if Art Brut were ever to go major label. This is a compliment, and I'll be coming back to this.

I had this album on repeat when it came out a few years ago. Really good example of the current U.K. indie revival.

Fun

This played and I listened

Stoked to see this one popping out today (unless I'm mistaken, last time I checked the full user's list it was not there). This debut from Sports Team splits the difference between Art Brut and Pavement in a perfect fashion (people only thinking about Arctic Monkeys or The Libertines here should probably broaden their horizon a little). It's witty, melodically astute, fun and lively from start to finish, and most of all, it's a non-stop collection of alt rock bangers. And this to the extent that I can't even see the point of mentioning them all. There are so many memorable lines and hooks in *Deep Down Happy* it's easy to lose count of them all. If you like indie-rock with a sprechgesang frontman conveying strong Jarvis Cocker, Stephen Malkmus and Shame's Charlie Steen's vibes, you just got to listen to the whole thing and be amazed. Had this debut been released in the late nineties / early noughts, you can bet your boots it would have become a classic. Here's me hoping it becomes one in the near-future, in spite of the later year it was released. To be honest, I have once feared for Sports Team's chances to pull this off. I was indeed under the impression that this record had been somewhat underrated by the professional critics back in 2020 (not that the reviews were bad, but they should be even more raving than that for such an impressive debut). Reading the album's wikipedia page, I've learnt that *Deep Down Happy* was actually nominated for the Mercury Prize, so I stand corrected. But most of all, I've learnt that this up-and-coming band met considerable commercial success in the UK with this LP and its singles (which might also explain why Sports Team have since watered down their initial messy punk energy for subsequent releases -- a story so predictable I won't even bother elaborating on it). Two takeaways from this: 1. The audience knows more than professional critics sometimes. 2. What goes on in terms of culture inside the UK's borders sometimes doesn't cross the English Channel or the Atlantic Ocean. That's the world's loss when it comes to this particular album, I guess. 4.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 5. 9.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 4.5) Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 30 (including this one) Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 39 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 73 ---

They got a load of shit but there’s little to dislike about this album

Some of these tracks had already won me over as singles, so hearing them together on Deep Down Happy, their debut, just confirms that Sports Team are an exciting band. I like some of the work after this as well. They’ve got clever, funny lyrics full of observational references to everyday English life, delivered by a charismatic frontman with just the right amount of swagger. Musically, they’re not breaking new ground, this is rock that unapologetically harks back to the 2000s, but it feels fresh because it’s done with such energy, joy, and authenticity. It’s rock & roll that’s unpretentious and clearly made by people who love what they do.

A fun indie rock LP with a solid dose of personality, wasn’t a huge fan of the vocals but the instrumentals were solidly enjoyable. Does burn twice as bright for half as long - not sure any of these tracks had staying power to make it into my heavy rotation, but still a solid listening experience all in all

This was pretty good! 3 stars.

Nice English alt rock album. A snazzier and more upbeat sound than the arctic monkeys but not far off from some of their earlier work. They’re a fun group with a high energy album. Hard not to enjoy this one and I will definitely come back to it. 7.0/10

Indifferent to most of this album, but I did appreciate the not-subtle digs at Ashton Kutcher on the song Kutcher.

English indie rock like you've heard a million times before. 3/5.

Hard to listen to.

Decent alt rock release with bit of a cheeky attitude and delivery. The songs have enough of an edge to keep them interesting and the lyrical content is pretty good. It has some catchy elements but not consistent enough to truly have any hits here. Promising.

I have mixed feelings about the quality of the vocals here, but this has a nice punchy, energetic style. I enjoyed it. Fave Songs: Long Hot Summer, Feels like Fun, Lander, Fishing, Here It Comes Again

Packaging and the initial musical presentation put me much in mind of 90s lofi acts like Pavement... A couple minutes in I was thinking that the vocal styling was going to get old quick. Thankfully it toned down pretty quickly from the full-on, early-Eno, sing-song yawp, but old it did get. I didn't actively dislike this at all but it was coding some kind of British slacker bloke vibe that my American brain can't quite slot into.

Go sports

Yeah okay this was fine. I'm really glad someone loves this but I have a hard time wrapping my head around it. It's such a line drive right down the middle. At least with music I hate it elicits an emotion. Something where someone makes CHOICES I go "okay this absolutely isn't for me, but I can see how someone would love that choice". This is just no choices for 40 minutes.

Unfortunately didn’t leave much of an impression on me.

Less interesting Viagra Boys. I have absolutely nothing else to say about this.

Do we still need to do this? Hasn’t it been covered 40 years ago?