Sprints - All That Is Over 

Since Dublin’s Sprints exploded out the gate with the stunning ‘Letter To Self’ at the start of last year, they’ve proved a relentless force across the live touring circuit. Matching their furious off-kilter racket with an equally poignant and powerful performance, their schedule recently climaxed with an early afternoon set at Glastonbury, fittingly pairing their political punk with matching backdrops calling the amped up crowd to action. Time on the road, it seems, has done little to quash their outrage - a time that has also birthed ‘All That Is Over’, their second album in two years and one that carries much of the visceral frustration that its forebearer began, rolled out at breakneck speed. 

One significant change sees founding guitarist Colm O’Reilly replaced by Zac Stephenson, a move that in their own words has injected new energy into the fold. That energy manifests itself most on the latter part of the record, where Sprints find their groove in a series of sludging, garage rock numbers, not least the brilliant final one-two of ‘Coming Alive’ and ‘Desire’, simultaneously their most melodic and sparse tracks to date. ‘Better’, too, sees them at their most experimental, set against the continued fury of ‘Descartes’ and ‘Beg’ - both of which are perhaps more reminiscent of what has come before.

Not that that’s an issue – the formula that helped propel the four-piece remains perfectly strong, led with notable power by guitarist and vocalist Karla Chubb, now a stalwart of the homegrown punk scene. The anger remains palpable, the lyrics ever relatable, and ‘All That Is Over’ injects enough ingenuity to keep Sprints right at the top of the class.