A new Scottish band, eh? So, that’ll it be – Biffy or folky?
Well, in the case of Cruel Sports, neither even comes close. Alt-pop, as you can see from the tag on the soundcloud page, isn’t remotely adequate either. Four tracks on this demo and the untidy 5 second into on the minute-long opener only delays things further. It takes a few seconds to realise that it’s a throbbing electro piece but the most distinctive component is the echoey vocal. Depeche Mode would be a reasonable stab; but to be fair, the tune’s over in a moment. Next comes ‘The Sobriquet Sticks’ and unfortunately, I still have the DM thing stuck in my head. Though to be fair, they’re far from that – though the lush vocal is in a deep register. See also: 10cc, Queen and Talk Talk just so you know it’d not just some goths ripe for a Susan Boye cover.
‘Drum Drum Drum’ is almost doo-wop, there’s a slight hint of Franz Ferdinand (more preciely their previous incarnation The Karelia) and again Godley and Creme or XTC. There’s also a comedy drummer joke interlude. ‘The Cheek To Say’, last one at least in the Soundcloud, is in a way the most modern indie in type, but conversely there’s no real band name to hang on this one. The songwriting’s not bad but it’s the overall effect – the intent to make something different that strikes me about Cruel Sports the most.
http://soundcloud.com/cruel-sports/
