Live Review: Feel the love in Cub Sport's video for 'Crush'

Last year was buckwild for Brisbane's Cub Sport - yet we couldn't think of a group more deserving of such success. From lead singer Tim Nelson and keyboardist Sam Netterfield coming out and announcing their engagement, dropping their monumental sophomore album Bats and selling out every single damn show for their Australian tour, it's a hard year to top, but somehow we think they'll manage it. To start, they've dropped a gorgeous video for 'Crush' directed by Brittney Scott and shot on location in California.

Cub Sport's modus operandi is silky smooth pop tinged with soul and RnB sounds. From humble beginnings as Tim Nelson's backing band, the group has weathered name and lineup changes over their eight year history, culminating in their debut album, This Is Our Vice. The rest is history - their sophomore LP Bats was monumental not just musically but thematically, with its themes of self-acceptance, growth and love dropping at exactly the right time amid the turmoil of the same-sex marriage postal survey. While that time is behind us all, Cub Sport continue to blossom and show the world their renewed creative energies, and their latest efforts for this video only further amplify this.

A short-but-sweet alt-pop number, 'Crush' evokes emotions that come with revealing your feelings to someone, and having those feelings reciprocated. With a simple marimba progression and snappy percussion, it strikes an even pace while layers of Tim's vocals paint a picture of rushing emotions. It's a flash in the pan, but a perfect representation of the group's craft.

The video, shot in California's Joshua Tree national park, visually depicts the themes of the single in a gorgeous and evocative way. From simple shots like Tim and Sam embracing each other or dancing as they perform the track, to more oblique visual metaphors, the video captures the mood of the track to a T. The unique editing touches where the video will reverse and play back repeatedly, as though the video is skipping, is a neat interpretation of what Nelson calls the "two-steps-forward, one-step-back" nature of mutual feelings.

The video for 'Crush' is just so great in a number of ways. It's phenomenally shot and the clever editing heightens what is already a great interpretation of the track. It's also just super great to see queer love depicted so well, both musically and visually. Here's hoping 2018 sees Cub Sport match the success of last year - they definitely deserve it.

IMAGE BY AMBER NAVARRO

WORDS BY MAX LEWIS

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