Of all the noisy post-punk bands to emerge from Dublin in the past five years – and there are plenty of them – Sprints quickly established themselves as the best of a fantastic bunch with a run of showstopping singles from when they emerged in 2020. Their first full-length release, Letter to Self, kicks 2024 off with a bang: a faultless debut that embraces the darkness like no other.
Its opening trilogy of songs – Ticking, Heavy and Cathedral - are a fitting way to begin the album, with pounding percussion that conveys a sinking feeling of self-doubt just as effectively as their anxious lyrics do. Vocalist Karla Chubb writes relentless, stunning lyrics delivered with harrowing emotion, whether she’s howling out the album’s opening track or quietly asking you, ‘Do you ever feel like the room is heavy?’. This vulnerability does not make for an easy listen, but it does provide some of modern rock’s most poignant songwriting.
