Album Review: The Sports - Don't Throw Stones

The Sports’ second album is a very different beast from their perhaps under-realised debut, Reckless.

Here, the songs are becoming more sophisticated and concise at once. Stephen Cummings is ditching some of the eccentricities of their rockabilly beginnings to let his oddly soulful voice and presence just relax into what was going on around it. Retro-influenced guitarist Ed Bates had exited, replaced by Martin Armiger’s ear for a pop hook. If you need any proof of the enduring quality of some of their songs, go straight to this record’s Who Listens To The Radio? and find yourself still singing along. And there’s other gems like the title track, and the staccato blast of Live Work And Play to go on with.
They tried to polish them up for international consumption, which didn’t quite work – Radio limped to the middle-reaches of the English charts at the time – but extras on this disc include the very tidy OK UK EP, with their run at The Easybeats’ Wedding Ring showing they could still put the foot down as necessary.