Record Roulette: Cub Sport
When I was seventeen, I fell in love with an unapologetically queer, Australian indie-pop band named Cub Sport. So, I thought June would be the perfect time to reflect on my favorite album of theirs, Cub Sport, and perhaps unveil a new obsession to all my music-loving friends.
I discovered Cub Sport days after they released “Sometimes,” the first single off CS, on October 5, 2018. I never thought I could love pop music as much as I loved that song. I was working as a restaurant hostess after school at the time, and I would drive home in the dark most nights. “Sometimes” feels exactly like driving with the windows down in early October, sharp on the inhale but comforting simultaneously. I would play this song every night, driving through the Avenue of the Pines, falling in love over and over again.
After two months of rounding out my Cub Sport obsession by diving deep into their first two albums, they released “Summer Lover” on December 24 of the same year. Again, it was love at first listen. They finally came out with their eponymous album, Cub Sport, on January 18, 2019. I’d been waiting for months, and my seventeen-year-old self was over the moon as it exceeded all my expectations. I would go so far as to say CS is one of the most underrated albums of the past decade, right on par with Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine’s A Beginner’s Mind.
Before we take the album apart and put it back together, let’s be kind and rewind. Cub Sport is comprised of Tim Nelson, Sam “Bolan” Netterfield, Zoe Davis, and Dan Puusaari. They began as Tim Nelson & the Cub Scouts in 2010, shortened their name to Cub Scouts, and after a cease and desist order from Scouts Australia, they became Cub Sport. Nelson, Netterfield, and Davis were all closeted when the band formed, and two beautiful queer love stories blossomed out of the group.
Nelson and Netterfield, who married in 2018, did not come out until 2016, years into their music careers. “While queer representation in mainstream music has been flourishing in recent years, so many of pop’s new, out voices seem to have arrived fully formed, their identifies all figured out… [which was] not the case for Nelson and Netterfield,” says Billboard’s Ben Freeman. Guitarist and vocalist Zoe Davis came out a short time before her latter two bandmates and, according to her Instagram, is now engaged to her longtime girlfriend. Indeed, we rarely see a group of artists grow into themselves as we’ve seen with Cub Sport, much less in the spotlight.
Cub Sport is the band expressing their newfound freedom. It’s got ethereal synths, a story to be told, and Nelson’s angelic voice; all the makings for an incredible pop album. Pile Rats’ Hayden Davies writes, “2019’s self-titled Cub Sport goes deeper into the complexities of romance and the rich, potent passion that can arise from queer love at its most true and beautiful.”
“Sometimes” is still my favorite off the record; two months shy of 21, I still savor the rare moments I can replicate those dreamy drives home in the dark. “Trees” is a close second, tied with “Party Pill,” both emulating the freedom and turbulence of young love in sonic form. “Light II” is a softer pop ballad, almost a hymn, but not quite. If there were to be a church dedicated to Cub Sport, I’d be in the pews every Sunday.
This is a hard album to describe; Cub Sport is truly in a league of its own. While I don’t condone the use of substances, if you were to be blasted out of your mind, this record would send you into another dimension. But you’ll just have to listen and see for yourself.
Listen to Cub Sport (and the rest of their discography) on Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube