Presented by Spirit of '68 TEAM SPIRIT
More than just a frontman, Ayad Al-Adhammy plays the team captain. Literally shredding his way to guitar-hero status, the soul of Team Spirit is all about epic hooks, killer solos, crunchy licks, and home-town heroics. In a past life Ayad was the keyboard wiz behind Passion Pit's gushy synths until one day, rediscovering his first love, that six-string siren, he rallied like a frantic pep-squad and rocketed last years Self Titled Team Spirit EP into the finals for the comeback-kids and punk rock parking lot tailgaters everywhere.
At SXSW, the New York Times called Team Spirit a " beery collection of punkish rockers having the musical time of their lives." Upon hearing the five jams on the Self Titled EP, Rolling Stone reports, "slash-and-burn erudition comes through on every track of this utterly bazonkadonkulous debut…a blur of bubble-punk riffs, bratty melodies, gutter-ninja guitar leads and cartoonishly catchy shout salvos." Just wait until you see the boys back after halftime.
Calling upon teammates Kieren Smith (guitar, vocals, running back), Dan De Lara (bass, vocals, tackle), and Alex Russek (drums, fullback), Team Spirit are in position to slam-dunk their debut LP, Killing Time, dropping this fall. Standing on the shoulders of guitar greats like Chuck Berry and the Exploding Hearts, Team Spirit's first full length is a lean, mean, shredding machine that will surely make September 30th when it comes out on VICE / Warner Bros Records a day to remember.
Lead single "Teenage Heart" pumps like teenage fists with stadium-cum-sweaty-basement style swagger in league with contemporaries Japandroids and the So So Glos. Stereogum writes, "Even those who regularly spend their rent money on 7-inches don't often come across a song like "Teenage Heart." The album is coming this fall, but you have all summer to test the limits of your car speakers with this one. Take it for a test drive now."
Opening track, "Surrender" starts strong with cooing aye-aye-ayes and an impressive hustle but what sounds like a pumped up walk-on song, lyrically examines the complexities of passion, commitment and the sporting life.
Team Spirit attack homeroom heartbreak like a sprinter with sprain. Killing Time goes punch for punch without fatigue, just like Ayad does in his multiple incarnations as a staple and supporter of the local scene of which Team Spirit are at the heart of. When he's not busy on stage, Ayad can be found fueling the fire of the best Brooklyn has to offer from behind-the-scenes. Either at his studio where he's recorded the likes of Fort Lean, Slam Donahue and young-upstarts Slonk Donkerson, among others, or running his label Black Bell Records, whose releases include the Joy Formidable, Total Slacker, and Honduras, Ayad's long been a team player in the Brooklyn indie arena.
From venues in Williamsburg, Brooklyn like 285 Kent, Glasslands, and Music Hall of Williamsburg – all of which have hosted not only Team Spirit but their best contemporaries whom without fail Ayad has fostered in some way – sensitive jocks and the devil's cheerleaders shout along to the Detroit glam swagger of "Satisfaction." Sings Ayad, "I wanted you to know! / I always wanted more! / I wouldn't ever have it any other way. I like it like this!"
High on adrenaline and taking cues from the legends of pop guitar, Team Spirit run the gamut of introspective emotion and self-reflective rebellion, to teenage obsession and exuberant all-out high-school keggers. Team Spirit burst onto the field pom-pons waving; sound-tracking that bottom-of-the-ninth-full-count-last-ditch-all-or-nothing-no-guts-no-glory god-damn rock and roll and the end result is a sweat-soaked victory lap.