Sports Team strike out on 'Gulp!' Read ethangordonbeck's review:
Looney Tunes
-style, at any second. On most songs, his voice fluctuated between yelping and yelling, singing with authority about suburban malaise, hypocritical politicians, consumerism and more. Even when the lyrics weren’t the sharpest, took Rice’s fascinating howling and paired it with some incredibly memorable choruses to give us one of 2020’s strongest debuts.and picks up almost immediately where they left off. If you loved, you’ll feel immediately at home with the opening feedback and the wall of crunchy guitars that follows.
What’s most unfortunate about this record is that Sports Team often show flashes of their most distinctive, best qualities. “Dig!” spends much of its time on a numbing chorus and occasional guitar noodling, only to hint at a more exciting evolution when Rice shouts about going to the corner store and plastic bags. But “Dig!” retreats back to the status quo and then closes with a guns-blazing, guitar-freakout-chorus finale that doesn’t reach liftoff.