out of switzerland came sportsguitar.in essence, they sounds like lost four-track cassettes plus terrific pop sounds on top. this band may take a listen to grow on you, but the second time is — as they say — twice as nice. you can’t help but be kinda charmed. such is the way of sportsguitar, the swiss duo intent on recreating the dorky but heartfelt pop songs of ‘beat happening’ via the tinny, fuzzy sound of pavement’s ’slanted and enchanted’. their music is about as low- key, offhanded, and easygoing as you can get. frontguy oliver obert sounds like a less pathetic lou barlow, strumming his guitar and singing embarrassingly personal lyrics in a deadpan accent; roland saum is the lee ranaldo- ish sideman, sprinkling clangy, buzzy guitar lines and atmospheric noise throughout. when sportsguitar gets it right… the result is pure pop heaven.

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sportsguitar - happy already
the state of music in 1998 seems to be all about technology: recorded in 96-track digital studios, mixed down on pentium II pcs, and pressed into compact discs that you’re supposed listen to at top volume on your $5000 surround- sound stereo system to achieve the desired effect. ‘chasing bugs” is pavement worship done right: slacked- out rhythms, a jangly, jaw- droppingly cool riff, and a line about ‘playing tennis with my penis’. elsewhere, ‘wine’ is the peppiest song ever written about a hangover, and “fish” is a glistening dream of a song about– what else?– wanting to be a fish. sometimes silly, occasionally irksome, but always endearing, happy already is like a cute puppy with an inner ear imbalance that makes it fall over a lot.

mp3/wav: itunes | finetunes | musicload | bleep

sportsguitar - married, 3 kids
sportsguitar’s married, 3 kids is the second full-length release from these guys. this is their debut in the good old united states, yeah, thanks to the good folks at matador-records, the us folks can finally enjoy the terrific pop sounds these guys produce. married opens with ‘very weird’ a track that’s catchier than the common cold and rocking like plate tektonics. ‘never waste’ is a goofy love song, acoustic as the day is long and sweeter than grandma’s wild honey pie. all fourteen of these tracks give life to your limbs, but the highlight is the spazzy knock-out ‘Reliable’.

mp3/wav: itunes | finetunes | musicload

sportsguitar - fade/cliché
sportsguitar’s first full-length doesn’t expose the band’s overt idiosyncrasies quite as much as ‘happy already’ does, but it’s no less appealing — the band bends their loose and drawling songs in the directions of pavement and the jesus and mary chain, floating from sloppy pop to lo-fi rock in turns that are as appealingly casual as one could wish. It’s a combination that’s hard not to enjoy — the band has a seemingly inexhaustible supply of screechy guitar hooks to structure their melodies around, and the incredibly friendly sloppiness of their presentation is hugely charming.

mp3/wav: itunes | finetunes | musicload

sportsguitar - cicadas’ chirping
details coming soon.

mp3/wav: itunes | finetunes | musicload

sportsguitar - surface
details coming soon.

mp3/wav: itunes | finetunes | musicload