Independent Brisbane-based group, Cub Sport have released their studio album, Jesus At The Gay Bar today via Cub Sport Records. The band is also embarking on a North American headline tour, kicking off May 31st at The Echo in Los Angeles. Tickets are on sale now. In addition, Cub Sport will join artists such as Carly Rae Jepsen and Orville Peck to perform at Outloud, West Hollywood’s Pride Festival on Saturday, June 3rd.
Even if Jesus At The Gay Bar can’t slip back through time, it’s sure to find a home in the record collections of anyone looking to embrace the bright, bold potential of queer experience. Featuring collaborations with Shamir and Mallrat, this album is Cub Sport in all-bangers, few-ballads mode: the production here nods to house, 2-step and UK garage, while retaining the lush fragility of Cub Sport music past. These are dance songs whose beats capture the feeling of butterflies in your stomach and stars in your eyes.
The crackling, kinetic “Songs About It” is a piano-house rave-up that’s thick with the heat of a summer dancefloor, while “Always Got The Love” stretches a feeling of pure devotion into a gripping, muscular groove. The album’s focus track, “Hold,” is reflective-yet-upbeat, accentuated with a sparkling synth hook and light vocal distortion. These songs might remind you of the past, or they might provide diamond-hard assurance that the future holds something honest and thrilling. Written during the pandemic, the carefree sound of Jesus At The Gay Bar was inspired by time spent in private, communing with nature and relaxing with friends and family. “I was so familiar with getting my joy and happiness from playing shows,” Nelson says. “I had to learn to find joy elsewhere. And that kind of lead to me wanting to make music that gave me that energy, and that at its core, felt uplifting.”
On Jesus At The Gay Bar, a sense of uplift is used to reify and exalt stories from lead singer and 2023 Grammy-nominee Tim Nelson and keyboardist and vocalist Sam Netterfield’s past – namely, their love story. Across this record, the early days of their relationship, at the time shrouded in secrecy and fear, are memorialized for what they are: moments of beauty and youthful ecstasy. Many of these songs, “Keep Me Safe” and “Replay” among them, recognize those moments as necessary scenes of transformation and growth. Set to booming dance-pop, they play like fairytales, stories to be heard over and over. The singles showcase Cub Sport’s ability to balance introspective, ballad-like lyrics with house beats to create versatile, multi-faceted tracks.
Jesus At The Gay Bar Tour – North America Summer 2023 Dates
May 31 – The Echo – Los Angeles, CA
June 1 – The Casbah – San Diego, CA
June 3 – Outloud Festival – West Hollywood, CA
June 4 – TBA – Salt Lake City, UT
June 6 – Café Du Nord – San Francisco, CA
June 8 – Madame Lou’s – Seattle, WA
June 9 – Mission Theatre – Portland, OR
June 10 – Biltmore – Vancouver, BC
June 14 – Marquis Theatre – Denver, CO
June 15 – Encore at Uptown – Kansas City, MO
June 17 – Amsterdam Bar & Hall – St. Paul, MN
June 18 – Beat Kitchen – Chicago, IL
June 20 – The Garrison – Toronto, ON
June 22 – Red Room @ Café 939 – Boston, MA
June 23 – Baby’s All Right – Brooklyn, NY
June 24 – Songbyrd – Washington, DC
June 25 – MilkBoy – Philadelphia, PA
June 27 – The Masquerade (Purgatory) – Atlanta, GA
June 29 – Empire Control Room – Austin, TX
June 30 – White Oak Music Hall (Upstairs) – Houston, TX
July 1 – Club Dada – Dallas, TX
July 3 – Valley Bar – Phoenix, AZ