Album Review: Weekend - Sports

At risk of showing my age, I remember when bands on independent labels with no budget sounded as such. Since they had no choice but to have that scuzzy distortion and tape hiss in their recordings, they took full advantage by emphasizing it. These bands made the lack of available funds to sink in their recording a benefit, begetting a new sound from their D.I.Y energy and passion that burst through the bare bones production. The distortion became part of who they were. It was worn like a badge proudly and the passionate fans of those can-do bands loved them for it. There were lots of made-up names for this genre such as lo-fi or fuzz-pop or even noise. Now we are in an era where music can be recorded with clarity and no hiss (no tapes!) on a bedroom recording budget. Because of this, the new questions come forth for a band that chooses to adopt this sound because they want it rather than are stuck with it. When does the distorted nature of a recording just another reference to a genre that the band is trying too hard to match? When is fuzz-pop just fuzz? Moreover, when is the fuzz in the fuzz-pop as essential as the bass, guitar, drums and vocals?

San Francisco's Weekend formed as a trio last year After the requisite vinyl single tune-ups, they have released Sports as their first full length about a month ago on Slumberland Records. At the outset of the first track "Coma Summer", there is no indication of lo-fi fuzz. A surf punk beat pounds away as a relatively clean guitar riff cuts in causing the listener's ears to perk up. There is an eerie, distant howl that is fighting it's way from the shadows and, when the energetic bass thumps in, the howls come up front and we have a nice rolling jam. Just as you are patiently waiting for the lyrics to kick in, Weekend swerves off the path at the 1:30 mark with a pedal push. You are drenched in a blanket of feedback so thick that it is like someone just blocked the sun. That catchy, little jam you were just enjoying is crammed into the basement and you are left with pained vocals battling with a buzzsaw as the punk undertones keep propelling the glorious noise. At the end of the nearly seven minutes of "Coma Summer", it becomes obvious that it is much more than a great song. It is a band mission statement that their sound is a calculated choice, a reference to what was great about that lo-fi sound and, with some adventurous listening, you realize that this special sound tied to a disappearing past can still thrive in this brave new world.

There is no trickery on the remaining tracks as Sports careens down this shadowy path of haunted echoes and tension breaking blasts of noise. The b-grade road movie of "Youth Haunts" is a homage to the early years of Sonic Youth when they were paving the road that is still gratefully well-traveled. That trip continues on "Age Class" that still comes fully loaded with Sonic Youth amenities but runs on the well oiled engine of Joy Division. That dank bass and echoing vocals of anguish connects on "End Times" with a hook that could be more appreciated by the general public if it wasn't buried under inches of grit. Finishing off Sports is an untitled track that grabs you with so many post-punk associations that it could be a lost studio outtake that got buried in the annals of a past that should be on every cool kid's mixtape of obscurity.

There has been a lo-fi resurgence in recent years and a lot of it has garnered a lukewarm reaction from me. Yes, I recognize what these bands are doing here and the choices they have made, but there is a missing element on their recordings that Weekend provides so eagerly. It could be harmony, tempo or pure energy, but that "je ne sais quoi" is a vital current that runs thick and rampant through Sports. It makes that scuzz and distortion as important to the album as any of the instruments. There was a time when those imperfections were not on purpose, but rather a result of a low budget making for lack of studio time and quality. Now that properly employed sound rings authentically throughout Sports as a loving homage and new step on the lo-fi path.

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Purchase Weekend - Sports here.

Right click to download "Coma Summer" for free here. Right click to download "End Times" for free here.

Weekend - Coma Summer


Weekend - End Times