Remember Sports – The Refrigerator

It’s been five years since we last heard from Philadelphia’s Remember Sports. The quartet’s last effort, 2021’s Like A Stone, landed a mere four months after the first Covid vaccine was administered, in the early days of Joe Biden’s presidency. It feels like a lifetime ago.

But here they are again, returning with a new record (The Refrigerator) and a new label (Get Better). Sonically, the band’s latest screams evolution rather than revolution, with tightened production, more loud/quiet dynamic shifts, and an enthusiastic embrace of the country stylings currently dominating indie rock.

It’s worth noting that Remember Sports aren’t exactly new passengers on that particular bandwagon. Their 2015 effort All of Something was produced by Kyle Gilbride, who has worked with both Crutchfield sisters, playing guitar with Allison in Swearin’ and producing a couple of Katie’s early Waxahatchee records. But while tracks like “Stunted” and “Harder” on All of Something showcased a subtle country influence, The Refrigerator’s slower tempos and added polish amplify this significantly.

Comparisons to Ratboys, Wednesday (especially “Selfish”), Waxahatchee, and last year’s Snocaps record feel inevitable, but the occasionally grunge-light guitar riffs—as well as the layered melancholy vocals of “Roadkill”—also bring to mind The Cranberries.

Curiously, the album artwork features a line from Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Parliament of Fowls (c. 1381–1382), “The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.” Chaucer was paraphrasing the famous Latin maxim Ars longa, vita brevis, which itself originated from Hippocrates’ Aphorisms—a fine reminder that few artistic ideas are truly original. 

This, of course, is highly pertinent to the state of indie rock in 2026, where even the most popular stylistic trends seem to be well-worn regurgitations. Remember Sports do the tried-and-tested pretty well, but there is little on The Refrigerator to elevate them to the top tier. Right now, they’re the ultimate support act. Their easy-to-digest, familiar sounds will inevitably go down well, but are unlikely to linger in the memory long enough to trouble the headliner. Remember Sports have learned their craft, but they are yet to truly master it.

The Refrigerator is out now via Get Better.