Dublin’s homegrown Sprints graced us last week at the 1865. Since their beginning in 2019, the band have carved out their reputation as one of the most vital new voices in modern post-punk: raw, incisive, and able to say the quietest things out loud.
Frontwoman Karla Chubb opened the show as the band’s superpower; her vocals swing between a razor-sharp snarl and a melodic, vulnerable openness, often within the same verse. Chubb doesn’t just sing – she calls out to the audience, she testifies to them, and she rallies.
Musically, Sprints thrive in the sweet spot between controlled chaos and tightly mixed with a punchy line in between. Their guitars churn and scratch with a post-punk edge, while their rhythmic section continues to drive everything forward with relentless intensity. Sprints aren’t here to reinvent the punk wheel – they’re here to set it on fire and shove it down a hill.
Their tracks may be packed with tension, as seen with ‘Rage’ off their latest album, but Sprints never wallow on their tracks. They instead build up to the moments that feel like emotional breakthroughs, where explosive choruses are used in turn to melt the everyday frustration into empowerment.
“It’s a kind of show where people walk out buzzing, not because they saw something pristine but because they felt something honest by the performance.”
Sprints are the sound of a band that knows exactly who they are and why they’re here. Their music hits with immediacy, and their lyrics carry the weight of the sound of voices that have been ignored or shouted over; Sprints continue to cut through with noise.
By Denisha Skilton
The Noise Exchange 