Sports

The Band is the debut EP from this Toronto, ON-based quartet. Sports started after Meligrove Band bass player Mike Small began playing together with roommate Nathan Rekker. After recruiting Shayne Cox on drums and Robin Hatch on keys, Rekker morphed his solo project, Nathan's Feelings, into Sports. The five tracks are a bizarre mix of pop and rock styles whose sum total sounds a bit like a "drunk on a summer's day" New Pornographers. While the tunes were originally conceived by Rekker and Small as bedroom demos all but "Syntax Error" were worked over and re-recorded by the band as a four-piece. Lead track "Warn Me" is the most obvious number here and will no doubt grab first-time listeners. But "Castlots" is brimming with ideas, with three separate sections jockeying to get stuck in your head. Hopefully a full-length won't be far behind.