Die goldene Ära des irischen Post-Punk geht weiter. Was die Fontaines D.C. mit “Dogrel” 2018/19 kickstarteten, ist in den letzten Jahren dank The Murder Capital, Girl Band, Silverbacks oder Just Mustard zu einer immer größeren Welle geworden. Mit den Sprints veröffentlicht nun endlich auch eine Band ihr Debütalbum, deren Singles schon lange als Geheimtipp galten (und restlos ausverkauft sind). Bereits 2021 platzierte sich ihr “How Does The Story Go?” in den hiesigen Songs des Jahres auf Platz 4:

Auf den Songs ihres Debüts bewegen sich Sprints nun weg von der eher skelettaren Post-Punk-Idee, wie sie die Kollegen von Dry Cleaning oder Wet Leg beispielsweise spielen, hin zu einem deutlich muskulöseren, rifflastigen Sound. Am stärksten wirkt ihr Album “Letter to Self” immer dann, wenn Sprints die Stimme ihrer Sängerin Karla in den Mittelpunkt stellen – wie in den Singles “Literary Mind” oder “Heavy”:

* Your three favourite Punk singles/songs?

Karla:

* Heel/Heal – IDLES
* I Wanna Be Your Dog – Iggy Pop
* Monitor – Siouxie and the Banshees

Sam:

* Warsaw – Joy Division
* Mother – Idles
* White Riot – The Clash

* A record that will make you dance?

Karla: Sound of Silver – LCD Soundsystem or anything by Confidence Man.
Sam: What A Fool Believes – Doobie Brothers

* Your favourite song lyrics?

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Karla:

Oh, but now old friends they’re acting strange
And they shake their heads and they tell me that I’ve changed
Well something’s lost, but something’s gained
In living every day

– Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now

Sam:
I Remember Everything – John Prine (Anything by this man really.)

* The best “new” artist / band right now?

Karla: I don’t know if they classify as new but I’m really loving Feeble Little Horse. I’ve had their recent album, Girl With Fish, on repeat the last few months we’ve been travelling. It’s an album full of 90s touchpoints, grunge and shoe-gaze, but also has a lot of surprising moments, textures and sounds. Sorry are a great band too, their recent singles have been amazing.

Sam: We’ve known them for a bit but the best new band out there is probably English Teacher. Technically great musicians and really well written songs that can range in genres without losing its ability to pull you in. Each member is hugely talented.

* Your favourite song about rebellion/revolution?

Karla: I Fought The Law – The Clash – might be a bit obvious or cheesy one but just such a good tune. Great melody, great hook.

Sam: The Beatles – Revolution – Cliche answer probably? The song was in my head anyway because this morning I saw an awful video of Imagine Dragons doing a cover of this song, it was a sore watch before I scrolled away. The timing of when this song came out, and what The Beatles were to counterculture in the sixties, means this ticks all the boxes of a great rebellion song.

* Your favourite song this year so far?

Karla: $20 – Boygenius
I’d be a Lucy fan over Phoebe or Julien but I was lucky enough to see Boygenius in London this year and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever been too. It made me fall in love with the record all over again.

Sam: Such a tough question, it’s the end of the year. I could probably give you 10 songs. Right now I can’t get enough of “The Flexorcist” by the Voidz, but that’s new. A song I’ve had on rotation for a while this year would be “Where Are Your Kids Tonight” by Cmat I guess, let’s go with that.

* Your favourite movie about music – and why?

Karla: “Almost Famous” became my entire personality for a while, but it has to be that. It made me fall in love with not only music and records but also writing. It inspired a lot of my early ambitions to explore writing and journalism. I don’t know if I would have fallen into songwriting without. Also the soundtrack is killer.

Sam: I watched “Walk The Line” the other week for the first time in years and it is still a great movie, one of the best biopics ever made.

* Your favourite irish artist/band ever?

Karla: Has to be The Cranberries. Dolore’s voice was one of a kind.
Sam: It’s going to be a toss up between Sinead O’Connor or Rory Gallagher, depends on what mood you’re in, I guess.

* The best song you’ve ever written / recorded?

Karla: I’ll echo Sam and say Shadow Of A Doubt. It’s very emotive but songwriting wise, I think it’s one to be pretty proud of.

Sam: The best song we’ve ever written/recorded SO FAR is probably Shadow Of A Doubt or Literary Mind. Again depends on your mood.

* Fontaines D.C., The Murder Capital or Idles – which one do you prefer and why?

Sam: Again hard to choose, hard questions. I’ll choose Fontaines because we can relate more to some of the things they talk about, and watching them become what they are definitely made us and other Irish bands think “ok it is possible to get to there from here.”

Karla: God that’s so tough, I love all of them. I really should go with Fontaines DC, I think Grian is probably one of the best lyricists of this generation, but I’m going to swing for IDLES. They are one of my favourite live bands, Brutalism and Joy As An Act Of Resistance are two of my favourite albums. The music carries such a bite, catharsis and aggression with this lovely undertone of community. The guitar work is brilliant too.

* Your favourite german song/record?

Karla: I grew up listening to Tik Tac Toe, and still have the CDs at home, but thankfully think some of my tastes matured… Autobahn by Kraftwerk or does Nico & The Velvet Underground count? I love that album and she’s an iconic German singer.

Sam: I need to familiarise myself with more German artists, I think Karla would have a better answer to this question. I watched Interstellar the other day, and Hans Zimmer never ceases to fail, so I’ll choose that soundtrack for this question, if that’s ok.

* Your favourite record of all time?

Karla: Impossible question to answer, truly. I feel like I have a favourite album for every genre and picking one means losing all the others. I’ll go Stop Making Sense – Talking Heads. Is that cheating because it’s a compilation/live album? I don’t care, it’s amazing. Genre breaking and defying mastery. Love it.
Sam: Asking the hardest questions ever. I will choose 22, A Million by Bon Iver. I was obsessed with it for years when it came out.

(Antworten: Karla/Sängerin & Sam/Bassist)

Das Debütalbum von Sprints erscheint im Februar: