David LichtermanThe situation I’m sitting in Chop Suey’s back room with Matthew Engebretson, Whitney Gould, Mike Marsidi, and Scott Porter of the electronic quartet SPORTS, right before they take the stage to open for Memory Tapes. Gould and Marsidi, who originally met and became friends on a Seattle U study-abroad program in Paris (Porter: “That’s some romantic shit”) started the band two years ago, with Gould singing and playing keys and Marsidi on guitar. Gould says Marsidi doesn’t sing because “it’s too good. Have you ever seen that movie Stepbrothers? It’s like that,” he says, referring to the movie’s closing scene, in which Will Ferrell belts out the Andrea Bocelli standard “Con te partiro.” The two later added Engebretson on bass and, just a month ago, Porter on drums.How They Got Here SPORTS has been prepping for their Capitol Hill Block Party set, which represents a big step up for the band–last year, they played not the official Block Party but the Capitol Hill Block Party Show at Po Dog for a scattering of hot-dog diners. “When I wasn’t singing, I was yelling at people walking down the street, trying to get them to come watch us,” says Gould.Shop Talk “I would say SPORTS fits into the chillwave genre . . . ” Porter begins.”Are you serious?!?” says Gould. He and the rest of the band protest the term–and it’s true there isn’t much chill or ambience in SPORTS’ music as heard on the self-titled full-length they just released in April. Gould’s vocals sound strikingly like Robert Smith’s, and SPORTS’ jams are pure synth-pop with one clear intention–“We make dance music,” says Gould. “When I was in college, I would not listen to anything that was not from 1978 through 1985. I wouldn’t hear it. I just loved the way it all sounded.””Whitney’s a big fan of those ‘Sounds of the ’80s’ CDs,” jokes Engebretson.”No,” says Gould, “I actually am!”BTW: Just how close-knit is this band? They’re working on arranging a band photo that replicates Manet’s The Luncheon on the Grass, a painting from the 1860s that depicts two gentleman dandies sitting with two (one assumes) prostitutes, one naked (a scene Bow Wow Wow famously recreated on an album cover, with their 14-year-old singer posing nude). I point out that there are four figures in the painting and four band members . . . so who’s going to be whom?

“Well, Mike and I are obviously going to be the noblemen . . . so, hello, prostitutes!” Gould says, cheerily waving at Engebretson and Porter. “No, there will be no band nudity. I hang out with these guys outside of the band, but not that much.”SPORTS is playing the Comet Tavern this Friday, July 29, with Viper Creek Club, No Fi Soul Rebellion, and Glitterbang. The show starts at 9 p.m. and the cover is $7.Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.