Sports

iTunes Review

One of Slumberland’s heaviest hitting bands, San Francisco trio Weekend fit Slumberland’s shoegazey sound, but set themselves apart with a particularly dark, aggressive demeanor. Sports is spookily cavernous, abrasive and even unfriendly at times, but the band understands the value of melody and focused, unclutted production. The result is 45 minutes of music that doesn’t repel, but hypnotize. It pulls you in, and hooks you like an innocent bystander caught in a powerful vortex. Drums, bass and guitar — drenched in reverb and dabbling in various effects — create a glistening wall of sound with washes of unintelligible vocals acting as a fourth instrument. Not far from a melding of the Jesus and Mary Chain and Joy Division, Weekend’s guitars glint with a white-hot edge, while bass and drums carve the groove. On some tunes, like “Untitled,” or “Veil,” the bass is clearly the driving factor, pulsing like a heartbeat quickened by adrenaline or passion, curtains of distorted guitar embracing the tune like a cloak. How Weekend injected a wistful vibe into the power-saw-flavored “Coma Summer” is an inspiring mystery.