Sports Team Boys These Days
Sports Team's Boys These Days arrives as a gleefully ambitious, often laugh-out-loud record that turns social critique and generational anxiety into sharply crafted pop. Across seven professional reviews the consensus score sits at 75/100, and critics consistently point to a handful of songs that fuse sardonic wit with singalong muscle. “I’m In Love (Subaru)”, the title track “Boys These Days”, and “Sensible” emerge repeatedly as standout tracks, while album highlights such as “Moving Together” and “Planned Obsolescence” showcase the band's new instrumental range from saxophone flourishes to cello and synth sheen.
Reviewers praise how the record balances absurdity and sincere feeling: the band trades earlier guitar chaos for stylistic eclecticism that moves between anthemic guitar rock and dance-pop electronica. Critics note recurring themes of heartbreak, nostalgia pastiche, political and cultural satire, and bittersweet irony, with the best songs turning observational comedy into pointed social commentary. Several reviews single out “I’m In Love (Subaru)” for its cheesy sax and immediate hook, while “Boys These Days” and “Sensible” are praised for marrying mordant lyrics to stadium-ready melodies.
Not all responses are uniformly laudatory. Some critics argue the record sometimes substitutes headline-ready irony for real specificity, producing moments that feel listicle-ish rather than piercing. Still, the professional reviews overall frame Boys These Days as a persuasive step forward: a band widening its palette and sharpening its satire without losing the scrappy, communal energy that made them a festival favorite. Read on for detailed reviews that map how ambition, humor, and occasional overreach shape Sports Team's most theatrically British record yet.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Good Riddance
1 mention
"she manages a perky as well as gorgeously floaty, cathartic, if still bittersweet final track - Good Riddance"— Song Bar
Math Equation
1 mention
"On Math Equation, for example: "You said I needed my own friends / So I found them / Then you fucked them.""— Song Bar
Body As A River
1 mention
"On the propulsive “Body As A River": "I read what I write / And it’s never without shame"— Paste Magazine
she manages a perky as well as gorgeously floaty, cathartic, if still bittersweet final track - Good Riddance
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
I'm In Love (Subaru)
Boys These Days
Moving Together
Condensation
Sensible
Planned Obsolescence
Bang Bang Bang
Head to Space
Bonnie
Maybe When We're 30
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 6 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Sports Team arrive on Boys These Days still allergic to seriousness, and the best songs - notably “I’m In Love (Subaru)” and “Boys These Days” - prove why absurdity remains their killer weapon. Rishi Shah writes with affectionate authority, tracing how saxophone and cello broaden their palette while keeping that Friday-night, eccentric live-band energy intact. The record’s standout moments turn cheeky digs and boyish chants into sharper commentary, so the best tracks on Boys These Days feel both silly and pointed. Overall, this is Sports Team leaning into maturity without losing the scrappy charm that made them a festival staple.
Key Points
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The best song blends playful absurdity with matured instrumentation, making “I’m In Love (Subaru)” the record’s highlight.
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The album’s core strengths are its evolved sonic palette and sustained knack for turning silliness into pointed social commentary.
Themes
Critic's Take
Sports Team aim for arena-ready Radio 2 pop on Boys These Days, but the record often trades their sharp British detail for broad listicle satire. The best songs - “I’m In Love (Subaru)” and “Boys These Days” - land because they mix schmaltz and melody in ways that still feel lovable, nostalgic, and oddly sincere. Tracks like “Sensible” and “Bang Bang Bang” expose the album’s problem: lots of topical name-checking but little real perspective. When the band remembers how to be specific and sweaty, as on “Condensation”, the album works; when it opts for headlines and irony, it slips into harmlessness.
Key Points
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“I’m In Love (Subaru)” is best because its schmaltzy nostalgia and musical choices make the sentiment feel genuinely lovable.
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The album’s strengths are warm, radio-friendly production and moments where specific, sweaty live energy cuts through the irony.
Themes
Critic's Take
Sports Team sound more alive and wry than ever on Boys These Days, where the best songs - notably “Planned Obsolescence” and “Sensible” - turn generational anxiety into thrilling pop. Mark Beaumont’s prose flickers between amused observation and astonished praise as he traces how “Planned Obsolescence” yowls like a Modern Life is Rubbish take and “Sensible” evokes Jonathan Richman fronting Razorlight. The title track and “Maybe When We’re 30” supply mordant, witty visions of middle‑class dreaming, while the band’s stylistic audacity makes songs like “I’m In Love (Subaru)” feel telegraphed for late-night repeats. This is an invigorating, genre-hopping record whose standout tracks marry sharp satire with irresistible hooks.
Key Points
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The best song, “Planned Obsolescence”, crystallises the album’s generational thesis with a yowled, memorable hook.
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The album’s core strengths are its topical wit and fearless, genre-hopping sonic palette.
Themes
Critic's Take
Sports Team return on Boys These Days with a cheeky, sardonic set that makes clear the best songs are the ones that pair humour with fire - “Boys These Days” itself, the sax-laced “I’m In Love (Subaru)” and the jolting “Moving Together”. Sophie Flint Vázquez’s voice revels in the band’s knack for marrying big thoughts and singalong anthems, so the best tracks on Boys These Days feel like riotous, affectionate snapshots of modern Britain. The record’s hits land because they shout their truths loud enough to be both cutting and consoling, which is exactly what you want from a Sports Team standout.
Key Points
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The title track is best for marrying sardonic nostalgia with singalong anthemics.
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The album’s core strength is sharp, humorous lyricism set to riotous, anthemic guitar rock.
Themes
Critic's Take
Sports Team return with Boys These Days, a near-perfect pastiche where the best tracks - “I’m In Love (Subaru)” and “Boys These Days” - cut through with sly humour and 80s sheen. The reviewer's tone is admiringly bemused, noting how the lead single's cheesy sax and Alex Rice's croon make “I’m In Love (Subaru)” an immediate standout, while the title track's Thin White Duke twang anchors the record. Other highlights like “Sensible” and “Moving Together” reinforce the album's kaleidoscopic songwriting, turning pastiche into coherent satire. Overall the best songs on Boys These Days are those that balance parody and craft, making the album's surrealism feel pointed rather than accidental.
Key Points
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“I’m In Love (Subaru)” is the best song because its sly sarcasm, cheesy sax and vocal delivery make the pastiche land as an actual hook.
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The album’s core strength is kaleidoscopic songwriting that turns nostalgic pastiche into pointed social satire.