SPRINTS Have a Garage-Punk Panic Attack on “Heavy”

Rising Dublin rockers SPRINTS have released a fourth and final single ahead of their debut album Letter To Self, out this Friday, Jan. 5, on City Slang Records, with a U.S. tour to follow in March.

The four-piece — singer, songwriter and guitarist Karla Chubb, guitarist Colm O’Reilly, bassist Sam McCann and drummer Jack Callan — have been building buzz for three years now, releasing a pair of acclaimed EPs, 2021’s Manifesto and 2022’s A Modern Job, and earning a reputation as a live-wire live act while supporting the likes of Yard Act and Suede. Now, on the precipice of their full-length debut, they’ve shared “Heavy,” a gothic garage-punk panic attack suited to the magnitude of the moment.

Chubb and O’Reilly’s palm-muted guitars align tightly with McCann and Callan’s low end, all of the above racing like an anxiety-ridden heart. Chubb chants, “And I can’t sleep,” as the track builds to its volcanic climax, finding an unlikely catharsis in its most unbridled form. In the accompanying music video, shot by Glen Bollard and Fern Rose and edited by Annie Walsh and Colin Peppard, SPRINTS have a blast both back- and onstage, as if to provide an explosively joyous counterpoint to the stressed-out song itself. 

Chubb said of “Heavy” in a statement, “The brutally cacophonous sound communicates how it feels to be paralyzed and inspired by anxiety, pairing intrusive thoughts, panic and intensity with that anxiety inducing build. Heavily inspired [b]y early Bauhaus records and PJ Harvey’s Is This Desire?, it draws a heavy influence from 80s gothic — the purposeful space reflecting the isolating nature of panic.”

Coming off a sold-out debut U.S. show at Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right, SPRINTS now return for a headlining Stateside run in the spring, with stops in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City, among other cities, as well as a set at Austin’s South by Southwest. Tickets are on sale now.

Letters to Self is available for preorder ahead of its release on Friday. See their complete tour itinerary below, with newly announced dates in bold.

SPRINTS Tour Dates:

2/08 – Rennes, FR – L’Ubu

2/09 – Mérignac, FR – Le Krakatoa

2/10 – Paris, FR – Le Point Éphémère

2/13 – Brugge, BE – Cactus

2/14 – Antwerp, BE – Trix

2/17 – Hamburg, DE – Molostow

2/18 – Berlin, DE – Cassiopeia

2/20 – Munich, DE – Kranhalle

2/22 – Groningen, NL – VERA

2/23 – Rotterdam, NL – Rotown

2/24 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso Tohuistuin

3/06 – Seattle, WA – Madame Lou’s

3/07 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge

3/09 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom Of The Hill

3/11 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo

3/19 – Chicago, IL – Shubas

3/22 – New York, NY – Elsewhere

3/23 – Washington, DC – DC9 Nightclub

4/03 – London, UK – Heaven

4/05 – Birmingham, UK – Actress & Bishop (SOLD OUT)

4/06 – Manchester, UK – White Hotel (SOLD OUT)

4/07 – Glasgow, UK – King Tuts (SOLD OUT)

4/09 – Brighton, UK – Patterns (SOLD OUT)

4/11 – Bristol, UK – Thekla

4/13 – Nottingham, UK – Bodega (SOLD OUT)

4/14 – Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club (SOLD OUT)

4/18 – Limerick, IE – Dolans Kasbah

4/19 – Galway, IE – Róisín Dubh

4/20 – Belfast, NIR – Ulster Sports Club

4/25 – Cork, IE – Coughlans (SOLD OUT)

4/26 – Listowel, IE – Mike The Pies

5/03 – Dublin, IE – Button Factory (SOLD OUT)

5/04 – Dublin, IE – Button Factory