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Cub Sport - Album Review: This Is Our Vice

10 Mar 2016 // A review by camy3rs

You may or may not be aware of it - but ever since the phenomenon that is Lorde took over the world, overseas eyes have been on New Zealand and Australia waiting for the next of her ilk to arise. 

Now, I’m not one to attempt to name ‘the next big thing’, but if the Pop revolution is finally on the way and Brisbane-based Cub Sport is not leading the charge, someone has messed up.

This Is Our Vice opens with the brooding synth and collective vocals of Sun, an interesting opener that steps up in tempo, but maintains brevity through the contrast of the almost off-handily dark lyrics and easily sets the pace for the rest of the album. I Can’t Save You follows on with one of the catchiest intro riffs I’ve heard in a while (Reminiscent of The 1975), before breaking into a super catchy, killer chorus.

Next up, It Kills Me was written by lead singer, Tim Nelson, for a friend who started working in the sex industry. The bass line is amazing by itself, funky and driving, but there is a sort of gritty aspect brought by the under layered synth and whispered vocals, making this one of my favourite songs of the collection.

The album's first single Come On Mess Me Up is in good company - there is no loose end to this collection and in fact, an almost tedious kind of care is obvious in the construction of each piece (reflective of both HAIM and The Naked and Famous’ first albums).

Each song is so meticulously pieced together, like someone fine-tooth combed out any unnecessaries and carefully managed to keep both the tone and encompassing feeling free of that over-commercialised, too-slick vibe (a feat in itself).

This Is Our Vice is what Pop music should be.

 
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About Cub Sport

There are a handful of seminal bands from Brisbane, Australia—The Saints and The Go-Betweens, among them. But few have achieved the breakout success that the dreamy indie-pop group Cub Sport has in merely three years. The blissed-out, anthemic title track from their first EP, Told You So, attracted global attention, which in the U.S. alone vaulted it up the top 20 college-radio chart. And based on enthusiasm for that debut, their second EP, Paradise, won Stateside audiences, too, thanks to airplay at influential radio outlets such as KEXP, WXPN and KCRW.

Lead singer Tim Nelson originally from New Zealand (Dunedin) moved to Australia & has recently toured everywhere from Singapore to Philly (“Some people drove four hours to see us he says, the American crowd is dedicated!” he enthuses), Cub Sport also features guitarist Zoe Davis, drummer Dan Puusaari and keyboardist Sam Netterfield— and their hotly anticipated debut album This Is Our Vice (Nettwerk) will debut March 4th. If Nelson, who’s also the principle songwriter, has a superpower, it’s effortlessly transforming mercurial topics such as self-doubt and self-immolation into an expanse of shimmering harmonies and sticky melodies.


Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Cub Sport

Releases

This Is Our Vice
Year: 2016
Type: Album

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