Indietronica from Sports

Purpose is at the cornerstone of Sports’ resonance and impressive second album Get A Good Look. Childhood friends Cale Chronister and Christian Theriot have come to realise that life can change at any second. Perspectives are reshaped, relationships rise or fall, and home is anywhere you want it to be.

For Sports, it’s the intricacies of their lifelong friendship, the victories and shortcomings of growing up, and the lessons learned along the way that have influenced their worldview. Growing up on the outskirts of Tulsa, Oklahoma, life for Cale and Christian revolved around watching MTV and going to church.

The pair first met in middle school and formed an instant connection with both seeking to break out of the conformity of their quaint small town upbringing. “We have been making and recording music under different names since we were about 13,” they share.

The genesis of Sports would come almost a decade later. On choosing the name Sports, Cale and Christian show reverence to their parents. “They’re big sports fans. It’s like we’re fulfilling some childhood dream of being in the NBA.”

Musically, Sports inspires images of the youthful idyll of bygone times through dulcet melodies and sun-drenched funk synths. Their elaborate, mind-expanding arrangements are warm and enveloping, creating a world where David Bowie, The Beach Boys, and The Clash collide. 

It’s this perspective that’s apparent in their upcoming third studio album Get A Good Look, which they first teased earlier this year with the single “Tell You Something”. The experimental and innovative track effortlessly blurs the lines between synth-pop, indie-funk, and psychedelic rock and marked the beginning of an exciting new era for the band.

Unlike their previous two albums, Get A Good Look will be released in two parts. “We didn’t set out to release the album in 2 parts, but with the pandemic, we had to be creative,” Cale shares. “It gives us the chance to work on the music and the visuals at a more methodical pace.”

Across six tracks, it effortlessly blurs the lines between synth-pop, indie-funk, disco, and psychedelic rock and marks the beginning of an exciting new era for the band. Two years in the making, the project has seen the band through many changes. “It’s been such a marathon,” Chronister says about the process. “I’m just happy we got it done and I’m happy with every second.” Theriot adds, “Hopefully we’ll be able to play these songs live sooner than later.”

The newest single, “Call Me Anytime”, is a sauntering slow burn that hypnotises through repetition before culminating in a rippling guitar solo.

Commenting on the new track, Cale offers,“This song came from a jam we did back when we were writing for Everyone’s Invited. It’s a completely different idea now than it was then. Then, it was just these stabby chords and me singing ‘you can call me anytime’ over a bunch of noise. Now it’s much more finessed rock ‘n’ roll, which I love. I re-demoed it a year later with Pink Floyd in the brain, then we just re-tracked everything. I recorded a lot of the yells with the lights off. I was standing on a chair most of the time. It was just so fun to make this song.” He adds, “I love the repetitive mantra. It’s me saying goodbye to someone. One of my favourite Sports songs ever.”

Christian adds, “The guitar solo that happens at the end of the song was something our producer Chad Copelin started playing around with toward the end of the day. I think we kept most of his messing around first take. He bends up to a ‘wrong’ note that I just can’t get enough of.”

Listen to Call Me Anytime below

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