George Dean
George (he/they) is a Brighton-hailing freelance writer with a keen eye on the London and Bristol scene, with experience in live music events for PR and operations.
He is always on the lookout for innovative emerging artists, particularly within (post)-punk, shoegaze and art rock.
SPRINTS ripped Kentish Town’s O2 Forum to shreds in what they proclaimed on social media as the “biggest and best show of our lives”
To get the crowd ready, Chalk screeched into the Forum on a ghost train of thrilling horror, as one of Belfast’s most exciting young bands showcased their traumatic soundscape, blending post-punk and techno in a similar vein to contemporaries Enola Gay. As frontman Ross Cullen writhed around on the ground and launched kicks into the air, I sensed that Chalk’s emo apocalypticism did not hold universal appeal among the audience.
However, their lyrical concerns with matters of death and despair, alongside their instrumental brutalism, laid the ground aptly for SPRINTS, who are at the forefront of Dublin’s flourishing guitar scene having released their lyrically introspective, sonically explosive debut album ‘Letter to Self‘ in January 2024.
SPRINTS have been on the road ever since the LP release and were evidently well into their stride. Their blend of garage punk and grunge made for a crowd atmosphere that was vitalised and supportive throughout the 18-track set, within which one could not name a weak chink.
As the tense bassline began over unreleased track ‘To The Bone’ frontwoman Karla Chubb walked into position to cheers of “go on Karla!”.
The opening song encapsulated a fragile disposition and started the set off in first gear.Building upon this strain was ‘Shadow of a Doubt’, a warning siren of existential despair which recounts feelings of psychological alienation and isolation:
“There’s a burning in my chest, maybe this living’s not for me
I am calling out your name, don’t dare say you can’t hear me speak
If I gave more than I have well I’d be ripping at the seams
And I am lost
Can’t you hear me calling”
At the moment that Chubb exclaimed “lost”, she releases thrashing guitars like hounds to the chase, reflecting a loss in stability for the narrator after two minutes of slow build-up. At the same time, the crowd, preparing for the mosh during this build-up, were sent into a frenzied mayhem. Pockets of the audience were belting out the words of the chorus.
Addressing the crowd in between tracks, Chubb remarked “this is wild”, in celebration of the fact that the quartet were playing in a 2k+ capped venue in the city, having frequented King’s Cross-based Scala a year before in October 2023, capped at 1k.
The night gave SPRINTS the platform to flaunt their most recent single release ‘Feast’, for which there was an animated crowd response. Tinged with gothic imagery, the two and a half-minute sledgehammer brings together themes of gluttony, desire and religious authority, filtering them through the renewed lens of queer sexuality. The track is brought to a climax over Chubb’s exclamative repetition of “She chewed me up like dinner”.
The mosh opened up further, ahead of ‘I’m in a Band’, the closing call of SPRINTS’ brazen and forthright EP ‘A Modern Job,’ which was succeeded by ‘Delia Smith’. Chubb turned to the crowd more directly as she pantomimically barked: “Who wants to be special anyway?”.
Pandemonium was paused for a moment as Chubb took a moment to lay out mosh etiquette, demonstrating a commendable concern for the welfare of concertgoers. Her comments included an emphasis on not forcing people to be in the mosh if they did not want to.
One could not help but connect this with the fact that Chubb had spoken up in April this year about the scourge of sexual assault and misogyny within the music industry, following incidents she experienced of being groped at live shows. It is admirable to see that SPRINTS are making efforts to create a culture of inclusion and safety at their shows.
SPRINTS eased back in with ‘Shaking Their Hands’, composed of a more forgiving drum section and Karla on acoustic. Chubb has illuminated that the track’s light-headed, scuzzy guitar section draws from the influence of Jeff Buckley, whilst she evokes “early Hole and Radiohead as vocal and energy references”. It was a well-placed pause for breath as SPRINTS approached the halfway point of their set.
Introducing unreleased song ‘Something’s Gonna Happen’, Karla and bassist-vocalist Sam McCann jested: “don’t judge us […] we’re very sensitive souls”. The track had been written on tour to inject fresh energy into SPRINTS’ sets. The trackbuilds further upon the tropes of mental illness and social disillusion reflected widely across the band’s discography, as well using the image of time and ticking to portray inner anxiety.
This was demonstrated by such lyrics as “As a clock towers over my existence […] I can feel the voices caving in […] The world has a cruel and bitter humour”. The instrumental was compelling, akin to white noise, heaving and gravelly as it approached the climax.
Karla then decreed: “let’s have some fucking fun”. SPRINTS re-ignited bedlam in the crowd through the tantalising, unnerving soundscape of ‘Up and Comer’, a leading single for ‘Letter for Self‘ originally released during November 2023.
‘Up and Comer’ is the track that first magnetised me to SPRINTS. A rousing belter, the lyricism of which is concerned with the band’s musical ambition in a similar manner to ‘Dogrel‘-era Fontaines D.C, ‘Up and Comer’ is a bold kickback against patriarchal alienation and imposter syndrome.
Chubb took a sip of beer, before taking her baggy retro Ireland football shirt off to reveal a sleeveless leather jacket layered on top of a T-shirt with the Crucifixion of Jesus emblazoned on.
Chubb revealed that SPRINTS’ last headline show in London had taken place at LGBTQ+ venue Heaven. She reflected on this to introduce the troupe’s oldest song – ‘The Cheek’. Chubb dedicated the track, which narrates sapphic autonomy in the face of a sexually promiscuous man, to the “girls, gays and theys” in the audience.
Before descending on the home straight, Karla took a pause to wrap a Pride flag around herself and provide some urgent socio-political commentary. Karla’s sincerity was palpable in a powerful and endearing speech which did justice to the matters it was concerned with. Chubb outlined that SPRINTS was formed as “four friends that wanted to make music and make sense of the world”.
Reflecting on the re-election of Donald Trump in the US, Chubb stated: “it’s a scary time to be a woman, queer, a person of colour, an immigrant”. In spite of these fears, Chubb insisted that “we’re gonna come out of this stronger and better together”, whilst sharing: “I wouldn’t be the woman I am today without the supportive men behind me”.
Chubb said that it is a “privilege to have a platform […] it’s our moral responsibility to use it”, whether that be calling for a ceasefire in Gaza or standing up for trans rights. Chubb pronounced: “The world has much bigger problems than who we are and who we want to kiss. If anyone does have a problem with that send them my way”.
The speech ended in an encouragement to the Irish contingent in the audience to go out and vote in the upcoming Republic of Ireland election which has been called for Friday 29th November. The words that particularly stood out to me were: “I can’t go on, I will go on, and go on together we shall”. A piece of wise hope to consider as SPRINTS commenced ‘Literary Mind,’ an injection of fiery hope, and the perfect way to follow Chubb’s speech as the air above showered confetti.
Ahead of SPRINTS’ concluding chapter to the set, Chubb warned: “be ready to sweat in your body”.
The approach to the last track ‘Little Fix’ was unconventional. Chubb recited a monologue of the song’s lyrics in the same way one would do a poetry reading, over nothing more than a stripped-down mechanic hum in the background. This was a haunting, courageous method of performance which was befitting of the track’s ominous subject matter.
SPRINTS proceeded to play ‘Little Fix’ in its usual high gear, calling in two extra pairs of hands to play drums and Chubb’s guitar. This freed up the frontwoman to part the crowd as Moses did the Red Sea, delivering her vocal performance on the ground level to the fans, before crowd surfing all the way back to the stage. It was a fitting, self-celebratory way to end the set.
SPRINTS will next be in London for Wide Awake Festival on 23rd May 2025, joining the likes of Kneecap, CMAT and English Teacher.
Listen to ‘Feast’ here:
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