On Friday 6th of October, at 7pm, I boarded the 27 bus towards Dame Street. As a leap card opposer, I presented the driver with the exact change, €1.70. Fully clad in the correct uniform for such a gig, black eyeliner applied with enough thickness that there was a palpable intention behind it, a leather jacket draped around my shoulders, and my platform docs to complete the checklist, I headed towards the Button Factory. Upon arriving at the venue, the energy was palpable. Having never seen SPRINTS live, I waited in a state of anticipation as the band readied themselves on stage, not knowing what to expect. Kicking off with one of their new singles ‘Ticking’, the crowd matched their energy imminently by beginning the descent into anarchy and chaos. I stood clutching the pint that was inevitably strewn across the floor halfway through the song, tossed my jacket into the nearest corner, and joined the madness of a newly-formed mosh pit. While admittedly looking like the love child of Marylin Manson and Robert Smith as my eyeliner strayed further away from its original location, I enjoyed watching lead singer, Karla Chubb, dot between the members of the band on stage, her mullet merely a flash of pink. It was notable that her stage presence never detracted from the other members of the band, and half-way through the set, there was a purely instrumental moment that gained just as much traction from the fans as the other songs. The collectively interactive performance maintained a high energy that the crowd fed off, contributing to the making of an amazing gig.
Following their first song, the garage-punk band continued with one of their most popular hits ‘Adore, Adore, Adore’, an apt title given the reception that it was met with. The politicised lyrics and guitar-heavy melodies created an electric atmosphere, and hearing this older tune alongside their unreleased music felt like concrete proof of their growing repertoire.
While knowing their new tunes couldn’t be listened to outside of the walls of the venue made me appreciate them even more, hearing the audience chant the lyrics to this well-travelled classic was a truly unifying experience. I noticed that rather than having to master the pursuit of screen dodging, the band engaged each member of the audience to the extent that everyone seemed to be watching it in real time. Chubb jumped right into the crowd to perform ‘How Does The Story Go’, swiftly followed by bass player Sam McCann, who successfully crowd surfed while still performing coherent melodies!
While the band has retained this same image of anarchy that it had formed with in 2019, their music has undergone its own renaissance of sorts. Inspired by Savages, their sound has remained energetic and untamed, but has grown in political poignance. The contrast between their more lyrically ‘lighthearted’ debut album ‘Kissing Practice’, and their most recent release ‘Letter to Self’ highlights the bands growing ability to intertwine issues such as mental health, bodily autonomy, sexuality, and the overarching theme of catholic guilt into their music. Chubb summed up the bands evolution with this statement: ‘‘No matter what you’re born into, or have experienced, there’s a way to emerge from this and be happy within yourself’, as she voices the way in which her music aims to create unity and a sense of catharsis through the societal struggles we all collectively face. Both, the expansive age range between those watching their gig, as well as the large number of hardcore lone attenders, demonstrate how this message speaks to a wide array of people in such different levels of their lives in society.
If Dublin inspired garage-punk is right up your alley, then I implore you to join the masses when SPRINTS return to their home crowd next May, playing in the Button Factory again for the final show of their international tour!
WORDS: Claudia Spice
