Letter To Self marks the first full length effort from SPRINTS, a record that is already earning five star reviews from some of the biggest names in the industry
Art-punk four piece SPRINTS are following in the loaded footsteps of their fellow Irish contemporaries, drawing comparison to the enigmatic Fontaines DC while heedlessly charting their own jagged path.
Hailed as one of the most exciting new rock bands in the world by Stereogum, it’s no wonder that Letter To Self is set to explode onto a scene that is ready and waiting for more SPRINTS.
Releasing via City Slang Records, SPRINTS channel a variety of arthouse gothic influences, ranging from PJ Harvey (most notably her acclaimed Is This Desire?) and early Bahaus.
The combination of slaughterhouse punk and artful intentionality creates a minefield of electrifying, genre-bending punk rock.
There are moments of simmering rage, like Up and Comer, full of desperation and theatricality. The intricate lyricism melded with repetitious hooks is a constant throughout Letter To Self. Adore Adore Adore is dance-worthy vulnerability, while Ticking is perpetually close to toppling over the edge into full blown, delicious unhinged insanity.
Lamenting on the increasingly frantic lyric “maybe I should cut my hair off“, SPRINTS then morph into a chant of “am I alive?“. Capturing precisely the specificity of anxiety and the oft times humorously frightening obsessive thoughts, Ticking presents SPRINTS at their finest.
Produced with immense clarity and depth, moments like Can’t Get Enough Of It feel pulled directly from the goth punk scene of the 80s and 90s.
What is most attractive about SPRINTS, however, is their brazen knowing of themselves. There is no pretending, no emulating, but instead a rebirthing.
With a slew of Irish guitar rock bands planting their flags, SPRINTS stand taller than the rest.
Brimming with personality and a heady passion, Letter To Self is better than it has any right to be for a debut record. There is no doubting SPRINTS, and the meteoric rise that is sure to follow such a supreme effort.
Listen to the remarkable debut Letter To Self below.
