- 2025-02-18
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MUSIC
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Sports Team Releases New Song “Bang Bang Bang”
London-based alt-rock band Sports Team, consisting of Alex Rice (vocals), Rob Knaggs (vocals/guitar), Henry Young (guitar), Oli Dewdney (bass), Al Greenwood (drums), and Ben Mack (keyboards), will their upcoming third studio album “Boys These Days” on May 23, 2025.
The album is their first LP in three years since the 2022 album “Gulp!”.
From the album, the band has released the third single “Bang Bang Bang”, following “Condensation” and “I'm In Love (Subaru)”.
The song was inspired by being robbed at gunpoint in California while on their US tour.
It was written by Henry Young and Robert Knaggs. Produced by Matias Tellez.
The band said of the song, “We would tour America a lot, and you see the AR-15 logo used on coffee bags, hats, t shirts, bumper stickers. There'd be racks with tourist souvenirs, a Mickey Mouse hat, pet rocks, some local landmark postcard, then a AR-15 magnet and that's where the seed of the lyrics came from. Then across the time we spent in America I was fleshing the lyrics out. There was a story I saw about NRA robocalls after the Newtown shooting, and it's horrific. The immediate PR damage control machine. Then you go and drink in bars. Particularly in smaller towns, and people would hear the accent and ask you about guns. Bring them out and want you to hold them, or look at them. And it just seems like another weird part of the weird culture clash that touring America sometimes feels like. When I was writing the song I was a bit worried about how we would put it out. It's not something that's in your garden and you sort of think, however deeply you empathise with a problem, when it's directly affecting other people you're a bit nervous about clumsily trampling through it.”- The continued, “Imagining something like that happening and you always think it'll feel dramatic. I think what was shocking was how blase people were. You're queuing for coffee. And then you're trying to negotiate somebody waving a pistol around. The staff come and lock the doors, tell you to step away from the windows. You're trying to barricade yourself in the toilet and they're still doing the squirty cream on the drinks. Anyway now it all feels a bit ridiculous. You're debating not putting the song out on the album, because it suddenly seems like some ridiculous stunt. Like it's embarrassing. Everybody is so kind. Strangers offering help. Some local mom has seen it on cable news and messages offering any help, or somewhere safe to wait and figure things out, and ultimately you're fine.”
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The band shared on social media, “Just been robbed at gun point 10 minutes into the US tour. Stopped for coffee. Man runs in saying some guys are smashing into a van. Ran out to try to stop it and find masked guys ransacking the van. Start yelling and they pull out a gun. Police response was “submit an online report.” Lost a lot of personal gear, but they didn't get the instruments so driving on to Sacramento to play tonight. They can take our Nintendo Switches but they can never take our ability to play rock songs about motorways. In all seriousness pretty shocking how resigned everyone seemed to be to it. 'It happens'. 9am at some petrol station Starbucks. Wild.” - source : Apple Music
