On the cover of Sports Team’s new album is a cartoon stick of dynamite, its title the sound that Wile E. Coyote makes just after he’s chased the Road Runner off a cliff edge. The London sextet must be all too aware that for a large number of lightweight indie bands who enjoy a popular debut, by the time of the follow-up the only way is down, and quickly.
The cliché of the difficult second album is real, but Sports Team survived a difficult first, too. They had a reputation as an electrifying live act, and a lovestruck young fanbase who adored the fact that this approachable group would include them in their various escapades. Then you-know-what arrived, and their album Deep Down Happy was released into a gig-less world in June 2020. The silver lining was a number two chart placing and a surprise nomination for that year’s Mercury Prize, where they lost to Michael Kiwanuka – and rightly so – but were thrilled to receive a pat on the head from those who take music extremely seriously.
