Category: Sprints

An occasional feature between now and mid-December. There will be ten albums in all, and maybe having read what I’ve had to say, and listened to a few tunes, you might like the idea of suggesting something to Santa. It’s not a rundown or a Top 10 – the latter would be just too difficult to try and do.

Letter to Self – Sprints

It was SWC, over at No Badger Required, who introduced me to Sprints a couple of years back.  I spend far too much time looking backwards, and any new music I pick up on tends to be associated with the scene in and around Glasgow. I don’t pay much attention to new releases from elsewhere, and I don’t tune in enough to BBC Radio 6 to keep abreast of what’s going on.  Thankfully, No Badger Required always delivers a comprehensive run-down of what its author considers to be the best 40 songs/acts of the past calendar year.  Oh….and he’ll always be SWC to me, even if he hides behind the name of Barry Stubbs these days.

By the time I decided to try and pick up physical copies of the various singles and EPs that had been self-released by Sprints, I was far too late unless I wanted to pay silly money via the secondary market.  Thankfully, the band, with the support of their new label, City Slang, decided to issue a compilation, The Back Catalogue, which brought together almost all of their early work into one handy location.  It proved to be one of my favourite and most-played albums in many a year.

The debut album was hugely anticipated.  Letter To Self was released in the very first week of 2024, but it had been heavily trailed by a run of singles, all of which were outstanding in their own way. Here’s three of them:-

So far, so brilliant.

Letter To Self had been ordered well in advance of release, direct from the label.  It was opened with a great deal of excitement and anticipation and placed on the turntable.

Hmm.

It’s a lot harder and rockier than I was anticipating, particularly when compared to the songs that had been collected on The Back Catalogue.  File under ‘I’m Not Quite Sure’.

The album wasn’t played anything like as often as the compilation, but it was one I more often familiarised myself via the i-phone going to and from football matches on trains and buses.  It gradually began to grow on me, and I grew increasingly pissed-off that I had been too slow off the mark to get a ticket for the scheduled live show in Glasgow as part of the tour promoting the album.

Without going over too much old ground, I did end up getting a ticket at the very last moment, just a couple of hours before showtime.  It turned out to be one of the great gigs across the year, with the songs sounding even better in the live setting than they did on record.

mp3: Sprints – Cathedral

As I wrote in a review of that live show, the foursome of Karla Chubb (vocals and guitar), Sam McCann (bass and vocals), Colm O’Reilly (guitar), and Jack Callan (drums)  delivered a non-stop blistering 15-song set, consisting of everything on the album and four songs lifted from their earlier Modern Job EP.  The energy from the stage and within the capacity audience at King Tut’s was a sight to behold.

In the aftermath of that tour, the band announced that Colm O’Reilly had decided to quit the band.  The wording of the statement to accompany his departure was quite telling in respect of the stresses and strains felt by young musicians.

“Life on the road can be tough – mentally, emotionally and physically, and does not always allow us to pursue our ambitions and dreams in our personal lives. Colm has expressed a desire to retreat from public performance and full-time touring to pursue his own passions, and we fully support his decision.

“Colm has and will always be an integral part of the Sprints family and we are excited to see how both our journeys unfold.”

I’m off to see Sprints again in a few days time.  I’m not sure what to expect – they are continuing as a three-piece with guest guitarists for the live shows – and I’m not that keen on Feast, their first post-album single which emerged a few weeks ago…it’s just a bit of the repetitive side and leans too heavily on the rockier rather than post-punk side of their music. But I’m fairly sure it’ll sound great in the live setting.

JC

I do promise that I won’t be writing about every live gig I get along to in 2024, but those which turn out to be exceptional in some way or another will lead to me wittering away aimlessly on this little corner of t’internet.

It was last October when Dublin-based Sprints released details of the UK tour in support of debut album Letter To Self.  I was too slow off the mark to pick up a ticket for the Glasgow show, scheduled for King Tut’s, which left me a bit deflated.  Within a few days of the announcement, it was clear that the entire tour, taking in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Brighton, Bristol, Nottingham and Leeds had sold out in its entirety, a full six months ahead of the dates and well in advance of the January 2024 release of the album.  I was convinced the band and promoters would look to upscale in terms of all the venues.

It didn’t happen…and I really shouldn’t have been surprised given that Sprints are one of those bands who are very principled about all things in life to the extent that they gave up some high-profile slots at the annual SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas ‘In solidarity with the Palestinian people and as a stand against US Army and Defence contractors involvement in this year’s festival’.  King Tut’s it was, and a big sigh of regret from your humble scribe.

A few hours before the doors open at 7.30pm, I get a text from my mate and regular sidekick, Aldo.  He tells me that a friend of his, Leona, (whom I’ve met a few times at gigs and other events across Glasgow) is now unable to get to King Tut’s.  She had offered the ticket to Aldo, but he very kindly, and with the agreement of Leona, passed the offer to me.   My plans to stay in and watch the Yankees v Blue Jays baseball were thrown right out of the window.

I didn’t get along in time to catch the support act, the wonderfully named Venus Grrrls, which was the only disappointment of the night.  By the time I got into the venue, it was already rammed.  The capacity at King Tut’s is just 300, but it really felt as if there were a few more in there – possibly the result of a sizable guest list.  To be clear, it wasn’t dangerously packed or over-crowded, but space was very much at a premium.  The sole joy of being on my own was that I was able to worm my way into the heart of the crowd, not too far from the front and in the middle (not quite as close as the above photo might indicate as the zoom lens was in use!)

On a night of a number of surprises, it turned out that the audience had a very diverse range of ages – I had it in my head that I’d be the only old bugger to turn up, and I’d be surrounded by loads of young folk quite rightly latching on to one of the most exciting new punk-pop bands of the era.

There was a real sense of anticipation and excitement in King Tut’s as the clock ticked round to 9pm, the scheduled time of Sprints taking to the stage.  The house lights went down….and the next surprise of the evening came as Murder on The Dancefloor by Sophie Ellis Bextor blared out from the speakers.  The younger folk in the audience were quickly dancing and singing along, many of them at the top of their voices!

Overture over, and the foursome of Karla Chubb (vocals and guitar), Sam McCann (bass and vocals), Colm O’Reilly (guitar), and Jack Callan (drums) took to the stage to deliver what turned out to be a non-stop blistering 15-song set, consisting of everything on the album and four songs lifted from their earlier Modern Job EP.

mp3: Sprints- I’m In A Band (from Modern Job)
mp3: Sprints – Literary Mind (from Letter To Self)

It is a bit confounding, as I creep closer to the age of 61, to find myself falling hard for bands whose members could pass for my grandkids and really wanting to get myself along to their gigs.  Not that I could manage along night after night, given how I ended up staggering out of King Tut’s hot, sweaty and quite tired. Oh, and I was in possession of two t-shirts, courtesy of the merch stall – yup, it was such a great night that TWO (count ’em) band t-shirts came back with me to Villain Towers….and that was the third surprise of the night…..a band with so many young followers offering up t-shirts for those of us who need to reach for the larger sizes (still haven’t forgiven Working Men’s Club for looking after only their skinny fans!)

Sprints have been touring extensively in recent months across Europe and the USA, and their hard work meant they were spectacularly tight and professional, particularly for an act that is still relatively in its infancy.  They are attracting all sorts of deserved praise for their music and their live shows, and as well as being added to some of the upcoming outdoor summer festivals, they will be opening for IDLES when they play in Cardiff and Halifax in July and for Pixies at shows in Belfast and Dublin in August, all of which will inevitably increase their fanbase and make tickets for future headlining shows just as difficult to obtain, no matter the size of venue.  (they announced mid-set that a return to Glasgow is scheduled for November at The Garage, whose capacity of 700 will not be near enough to satisfy demand).

So….in summary, Sprints at King Tut’s on Sunday 7 April 2024 was very much a life-affirming experience.  A huge thanks to Aldo for being such a wonderful friend in getting the ticket to me, and of course to Leona who, sadly, just couldn’t make it the other night. I hope she’s there when they play The Garage…..the drinks that night will very much be on me.

JC