Sports Team Boys These Days
Released May 23, 2025 Bright Antenna
Established consensus 6 professional reviews Updated Aug 27, 2026
Broadly positive consensus
Sports Team's Boys These Days arrives as a witty, wide-angled portrait of British twenty-something anxieties and middle-age aspirations, balancing sardonic satire with unmistakable pop craft.
How ChoruScore worksCritics' Top Tracks
The songs critics returned to most
I'm In Love (Subaru)
6 critic mentions
“They could have pinched ‘I’m In Love (Subaru)’ from the ’60s, using the saxophone” — New Musical Express (NME)
Boys These Days
6 critic mentions
“When I was your age we didn’t even have doors, we just had playing in the traffic with rocks,” — DIY Magazine
Condensation
3 critic mentions
“All that love boils down to Rice belting out “Ooh! Ah! Yeah!” in the chorus” — Paste Magazine
Full critic consensus
Sports Team's Boys These Days arrives as a witty, wide-angled portrait of British twenty-something anxieties and middle-age aspirations, balancing sardonic satire with unmistakable pop craft. Across six professional reviews the record earned a 75.33/100 consensus score, and critics consistently point to the same handful of songs as proof the band have sharpened their ambitions while expanding beyond guitar chaos into brass, cello and 80s-tinged sheen.
Reviewers consistently praise “I’m In Love (Subaru)” and the title track “Boys These Days” as the album's clearest hits, with “Maybe When We’re 30”, “Sensible” and “Condensation” also singled out for mixing melody and satire. Across the reviews critics note recurring themes of consumerism, nostalgia and generational anxiety, plus pointed social commentary on masculinity and modern life. Some appreciations celebrate the band’s genre pastiche and anthem-ready arrangements, while others caution that broad, listicle-ready satire sometimes undercuts the sharper observational songwriting.
Taken together the professional reviews suggest Boys These Days is both a step forward in stylistic eclecticism and a record occasionally undone by its own theatricality. The critical consensus frames it as a rewarding, occasionally uneven collection whose standout tracks turn absurdity into genuine hooks, and sets up the detailed reviews below for readers wanting the full take on whether Boys These Days is worth a deep listen.
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
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 6 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Sports Team sound like collectors of Britpop lore on Boys These Days, and the best tracks - notably “I’m in Love (Subaru)” and “Maybe When We’re 30” - make that case plainly. The opener “I’m in Love (Subaru)” greets you with blaring sax and Prefab Sprout-tinged ethereal pop, while the closer “Maybe When We’re 30” builds into a moody, cathartic coda. The title cut “Boys These Days” is a breezy, cinematic highlight that lands the record’s generational humor. Ultimately, these songs frame the album as a witty, nostalgic journey through twenty-something anxieties and small domestic ambitions.
Key Points
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The best songwork comes from the opener "I’m in Love (Subaru)" and closer "Maybe When We’re 30", which function as effective bookends.
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The album’s core strengths are witty, nostalgic songwriting and smart Britpop-inflected arrangements.
Themes
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 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.
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.