Sprints

Formed in 2019, Dublin alt-rock quartet Sprints incorporate aspects of post-punk and garage punk to deliver an urgent, vulnerable sound while remaining technically precise. Often switching the mood in a heartbeat -- from brooding to exhilarating, discordant to melodic -- Sprints also nod to '90s grunge acts such as Hole by regularly employing a quiet-loud dynamic. After a run of attention-grabbing singles and EPs, their honest and cathartic 2024 debut album, Letter to Self, hit the Top 20 in both the U.K. and Ireland. With more touring under their belt, the group, if anything, raised the stakes on the 2025 follow-up All That Is Over.Singer/songwriter and guitarist Karla Chubb grew up listening to acts like Guns N' Roses, and it was the level of adoration extolled by audiences on records such as Live: Era '87-'93 that led her to consider a career in music. When a close friend emigrated to Canada, Chubb dealt with the situation by penning some of her earliest compositions. In time, she formed an indie folk act with guitarist Colm O'Reilly and drummer Jack Callan. After the trio attended a gig by London's Savages, they were inspired to crank up the volume in their modest rehearsal space in the Dublin suburb of Coolock. Sprints' lineup and sound were fully formed in 2019 with the addition of bassist Sam McCann.Their self-released 2020 debut single, "Kissing Practice," was a three-minute burst of energy that duly led Nice Swan Records -- the home of Silverbacks and Sports Team -- to sign them. Although Sprints' first single for the label was July's bass-driven "The Cheek," the recording of their debut EP -- eventually issued as March 2021's Manifesto -- was completed with Gilla Band's Daniel Fox, just prior to Ireland's early-2020 COVID-19-related lockdown. A further EP, A Modern Job, appeared in March 2022, just ahead of prestigious U.S. dates at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. In January 2023, the band signed with City Slang before releasing "Literary Mind" the following month. June's "Adore Adore Adore" was promoted during the year at the U.K.'s Truck Festival, Germany's Reeperbahn Festival, and at headline dates in both London and Dublin. Released that November, "Shadow of a Doubt" coincided with a New York appearance as well as a slot at Iceland Airwaves. Each of these 2023 singles appeared on Sprints' debut album, Letter to Self, which was completed with Fox still on board and issued the first week of 2024. In April 2024, O'Reilly left the band, and they recruited Zac Stephenson, who had filled in on guitar for a festival date in the past, so he knew some of their songs. By the time Sprints recorded their sophomore LP with Fox in La Frette studio outside Paris, they had bonded as a group, and Chubb had acquired a new, hard-earned confidence. An even more nuanced and urgent outing that grappled with a world spinning out of control, All That Is Over arrived on Sub Pop (North America) and City Slang (rest of the world) in September 2025.
© James Wilkinson & Marcy Donelson /TiVo