Tag: SPRINTS A Modern Job EP

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: SPRINTS Shares Feral and Frenzied “Heavy”

If you had been frequenting this site as we closed out 2023, you might have come across a handful of pieces on rapidly rising Dublin-based punks SPRINTS. The Dublin-based quartet — Karla Chubb (vocals, guitar), Colm O’Reilly (guitar), Jack Callan (drums) and Sam McCann (bass) — formed back in 2019, and since then they have quickly developed and crafted an abrasive punk rock sound, influenced by early Pixies, Bauhaus, Siousxie Sioux, King Gizzard, Savages, and LCD Soundsystem. 

Their first two EP’s, 2021’s Manifesto and last year’s A Modern Job were released to rapturous praise from UK music outlets like DIY, The Guardian, NME, Loud & Quiet, Dork, and Clash. They also received airplay from BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music.

The Irish punks highly-anticipated full-length debut Letter To Self is slated for a Friday release through City Slang Records. According to the band’s Karla Chubb, the album “is a deeply personal and autobiographical lyrically and in its key themes, while sonically it explores a space inspired by our love of early 80s gothic, 90s noises rock and more modern influences. It revisits our most vulnerable moments and imbues them with visceral garage-punk. It aims to take the things that are considered inherently negative – feelings of anxiety, anger and rage, and turning them into a positive. Using our experiences to fuel us and pouring them into a positive outlet. It’s cathartic, it’s honest, it’s raw.” While pain is used to fuel growth, at its core, the album is rooted in a message of self-acceptance. 

The band’s frontperson Karla Chubb has never been afraid to confront inner turmoil. Born in Dublin, she spent a portion of her early childhood in Germany, initially turning to music as a consequence of feeling out-of-step with the world. “I lived in a constant state of existential crisis,” she recalls. “Music became an outlet for emotion, and a way for me to understand myself and society.”

Recorded in France’s Loire Valley with Gilla Band‘s Daniel Fox over the course of 12 days, Letter to Self will feature previously released singles “Adore Adore Adore,” “Literary Mind,” its lead single “Up and Comer,” and what may arguably be the album’s most vulnerable and raw track “Shadow of a Doubt.”

Letter To Self‘s latest single “Heavy” is a brutally furious, mosh pit friendly ripper built around scorching riffs and thunderous drumming paired with anthemic, shout along worthy hooks and Chubb’s urgent, feral delivery. ”The brutally cacophonous sound communicates how it feels to be paralyzed and inspired by anxiety, pairing intrusive thoughts, panic and intensity with that anxiety inducing build,” SPRITS’ Chubb explains. “Heavily inspired my early Bauhaus records and PJ Harvey’s Is This Desire?, it draws a heavy influence from 80s gothic – the purposeful space reflecting the isolating nature of panic.”

Featuring live footage shot by Glen Bollard and Fern Rose, and edited by Annie Walsh and Colin Peppard, the accompanying video for “Heavy” captures the energy of a SPRINTS set — both before the show and in the green room, and then the actual, sweaty, frenzy of the show.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Dublin’s SPRINTS Share Cathartic and Deeply Personal “Shadow Of A Doubt”

Formed back in 2019, Dublin-based punks SPRINTS — Karla Chubb (vocals, guitar), Colm O’Reilly (guitar), Jack Callan (drums) and Sam McCann (bass) — have developed and crafted an abrasive brand of punk rock, influenced by early Pixies, Bauhaus, Siousxie Sioux, King Gizzard, Savages, and LCD Soundsystem. 

Their first two EP’s, 2021’s Manifesto and last year’s A Modern Job were released to rapturous praise from UK music outlets like DIY, The Guardian, NME, Loud & Quiet, Dork, and Clash. They also received airplay from BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music.

Building upon a growing profile, the Irish punk band’s highly-anticipated full-length debut Letter To Self is slated for a January 5, 2024 release through City Slang Records. According to the band’s Karla Chubb, the album “is a deeply personal and autobiographical lyrically and in its key themes, while sonically it explores a space inspired by our love of early 80s gothic, 90s noises rock and more modern influences. It revisits our most vulnerable moments and imbues them with visceral garage-punk. It aims to take the things that are considered inherently negative – feelings of anxiety, anger and rage, and turning them into a positive. Using our experiences to fuel us and pouring them into a positive outlet. It’s cathartic, it’s honest, it’s raw.” While pain is used to fuel growth, at its core, the album is rooted in a message of self-acceptance. 

Recorded in France’s Loire Valley with Gilla Band‘s Daniel Fox over the course of 12 days, Letter to Self will feature previously released singles “Adore Adore Adore,” “Literary Mind” and its lead single “Up and Comer,” an earnest and furious ripper built around buzzing power chords, thunderous drumming and mosh pit friendly hooks paired with Chubb’s feral delivery. Thematically “Up and Comer” tackles imposter syndrome — through the perspective of embittering, lived-in, fairly universal experiences and feelings, which gives the song a cathartic air for anyone, who has felt like an imposter in their life.

“Shadow Of A Doubt,” Letter To Self‘s latest single begins with a lengthy and atmospheric slow-burn of an introduction pairing glistening and angular guitar bursts and Chubb’s emotive vocal that gradually builds up into an explosive, swirling and fuzzy power chord-driven climax before a slow-burning and atmospheric coda. The song manages to evoke a spiraling descent into dark madness with the immediacy of someone who has actually lived it — and survived to tell their story.

“‘Shadow Of A Doubt’ is our most vulnerable moment to date,” SPRINTS’ Karla Chubb explains. “It very bluntly deals with the experience of trauma, depression and the aftermath. It was written quite selfishly –  to take the weight of some of those feelings off myself by placing them on a page in an attempt to feel like I was healing, or ridding myself of them. An entirely cathartic process.

“The slow and intensifying build, the crashing drums, swirling guitars and chaotic climax all symbolize that pure terrifying fall into darkness, and the almost silent call for help. It’s the feeling of loneliness, abandonment and exile. It’s shouting out into the void and thinking everyone can hear you, but they can’t.

The vocal was recorded in three takes with jagged breaths and some misstepped lyrics purposefully left in. Here, we felt emotion was more important than perfection.”

Directed by Ellius Grace, the accompanying video for “Shadow Of A Doubt,” begins with the seemingly comatose and disaffected members of SPRINTS in a bare room with bandaged doctors checking in on them, and handing them their instruments. As the song builds up, the band members become more alive. By the time, the song reaches its explosive climax, everyone involved has descended into madness.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Dublin’s SPRINTS Confront Imposter Syndrome with Furious Ripper “Up and Comer”

Dublin-based punk outfit SPRINTS — Karla Chubb (vocals, guitar), Colm O’Reilly (guitar), Jack Callan (drums) and Sam McCann (bass) — formed back in 2019. And since their formation, the Irish quartet have developed a reputation for crafting an abrasive brand of punk rock, influenced by early Pixies, Bauhaus, Siousxie Sioux, King Gizzard, Savages, and LCD Soundsystem.

Their first two EP’s, 2021’s Manifesto and last year’s A Modern Job were released to rapturous praise from UK music outlets like DIY, The Guardian, NME, Loud & Quiet, Dork, and Clash. They also received airplay from BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music.

The Irish punk outfit’s highly-anticipated full-length debut, Letter To Self is slated for a January 5, 2024 release through City Slang Records. The album, which will feature previously released singles “Adore Adore Adore” and “Literary Mind,” was recorded in France’s Loire Valley with Gilla Band‘s Daniel Fox over the course of 12 days. The album “is a deeply personal and autobiographical lyrically and in its key themes, while sonically it explores a space inspired by our love of early 80s gothic, 90s noises rock and more modern influences,” SPRINTS’ Karla Chubb explains. “It revisits our most vulnerable moments and imbues them with visceral garage-punk. It aims to take the things that are considered inherently negative – feelings of anxiety, anger and rage, and turning them into a positive. Using our experiences to fuel us and pouring them into a positive outlet. It’s cathartic, it’s honest, it’s raw.” While pain is used to fuel growth, at its core, the album is rooted in a message of self-acceptance.

The album’s lead single “Up and Comer” is an earnest and furious ripper built around buzzing power chords, thunderous drumming and mosh pit friendly hooks paired with Chubb’s feral delivery. The song thematically sees the band exploring and confronting imposter syndrome — but through the perspective of embittering, lived-in, fairly universal experience. And as a result, the song will be catharsis inducing for anyone, who has felt like an imposter –whether professionally, personally or both.

“It’s an invisible narrative that has been constructed by the doubts and negativity I’ve been fed by others,” SPRINTS’ Chubb explains. “It’s a song that takes aim at these ideas, and instead of letting them continue to hold me back, sees me finally break free of the expected, embrace the anger and let it rip.” 

Directed by Ellius Grace, the accompanying video captures the band’s frenetic live energy — with the band performing in an empty auditorium with a fan and a bored janitor. Throughout, the band’s members confront their own feelings of self-doubt and imposter syndrome.