Cub Sport, Summer Lover | Track Review 🎵

Australian alternative-pop collective Cub Sport shines on the dreamy, summery “Summer Lover,” the second single from their self-titled, third album.

“Baby, you know I never had a summer with another / I always get burned / Baby, yeah, I’ve been hiding in shadows riding the highs and the lows in the sand.” Australian alt-pop collective Cub Sport (Tim Nelson, Dan Puusaari, Sam Netterfield, and Zoe Davis) return in 2019 with their self-titled, third studio album (BTW, the collective delivered a killer cover of Kanye West’s “Ultralight Beam” on triple j).  After releasing promo single, “Sometimes”, fans got an early Christmas present with the December 24, 2018 release of the second Cub Sport single, “Summer Lover.” Safe to say, the brief number (not even two-and-a-half minutes in duration), is definitely ear-catching, giving off some serious sunny vibes to say the least.

“Summer Lover” opens with bright-sounding, enthusiastic synths, that set up the summery, sunny tone of the record.  Much like the synths that precede, the lead vocals are also bright and enthusiastic, drenched in reverb. The melody is lovely – carefree and the perfect representation of summery vibes.  Clearly, Cub Sport are going for a dreamy sound, as the production isn’t necessarily characterized by its clarity, but slightly ‘messier’ with less finesse – ‘blended together.’ This works because it suits the theme of the song.  The chorus section is arguably the crème de la crème, featuring superb layering and contrast of upper register vocals (“I’m gonna take you to the beach…”) and lower register vocals (“I’d never had a summer with another”).

Final Thoughts

Tim Nelson and Cub Sport keep it pretty simple on “Summer Lover.” Regardless, it’s effective – perfectly suited for summer in Australia.  For those of us stateside, well, “Summer Lover” and Cub Sport is sure to ‘warm up’ the winter.

Cub Sport • Cub Sport • Cub Sport • Release: 1.18.19

Photo Credit: Cub Sport