The Daily Spin, April 17
Cub Sport | Jesus At The Gay Bar
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite song from each album right here.
If you want to suggest an album, good news! You can do so right here!
Album: Jesus At The Gay Bar (2023)
Artist: Cub Sport
Link:
I first discovered Cub Sport a few years ago, with their hit song ‘Come on Mess Me Up’ off of 2016’s This Is Our Vice my introduction to this Australian alt-pop outfit. Shimmering melodies and falsettos sprinkled through pleasantly airy guitars made for the sort of music that tickled my ear just right at the time.
Of course, as time passes, my tastes have shifted somewhat, and as is wont to happen, Cub Sport fell a little by my wayside - but, in searching for albums for The Daily Spin, I happened to see their name next to their new release, incredibly titled Jesus At The Gay Bar.
I was not expecting the pivot into a full-blown pop outfit. Elements of the alt and indie scene remain in the instrumentation and song construction, but this feels a lot more Years & Years than it does COIN - and yet, I think this works for Cub Sport. It’s not perfect - there’s a certain lack of range to this album, and a lot of the highs and lows are so tightly concentrated that nothing is allowed room to breathe as much as it needs, but this is classic Cub Sport in the ways that matter - and that makes it pretty solid.
Rating: 7.9/10
Best Tracks: Keep Me Safe; Yaya
Worst Tracks: High For The Summer; Hold