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“I don’t grow old / I grow unrecognisable”, sings Sprints vocalist Karla Chubb on Abandon. An auspicious opening statement for their second album, All That Is Over, it’s a prophecy that the Dublin noise-rockers fulfil throughout the record. Gone is the self-conscious band we heard on their debut record; welcome to the new era of Sprints.
Once again, Sprints demonstrate their respect for the art of creating an album; it’s more than just a collection of singles – All That Is Over is a true body of work. Consistent and cohesive, without being one-note, it has the unique ability to grab your attention and hold it until the very end. Abandon opens the record on an ominous note with a nuanced reflection on change and growth, both internally and environmentally. To The Bone continues with that icy gloominess, building in intensity until it reaches its thrilling, gothic peak.
That intensity leads us beautifully into the messier, more chaotic side of the album with Need and Descartes. The latter is a true Sprints classic that manages to be both intellectual and noisy, pondering ego and pride in modern society and questioning where art fits into the increasingly dystopian world we inhabit.
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Indeed, literary dystopia is cited as a key influence on All That Is Over. A difficult concept to translate into music, perhaps, but Sprints manage it easily. The album is rife with tension, particularly on Something’s Going to Happen, the calm before the storm, where the band seem to address the listener directly. Rage shines with those thrumming, hypnotic choruses that Sprints do so well.
Desire is a perfect conclusion to the album, showing us a side of Sprints we’ve never seen before. Combining their usual gothic gloom with cowboy riffs, it introduces a slight country twang that serves to build the tension of the record to breaking point over its six-minute runtime, before descending into total chaos as the album draws to a close. With All That Is Over, Sprints have indeed emerged reborn, confident in the spot they’ve earned as one of Ireland’s most thrilling bands.