Jacob to Planet Earth. Surprisingly, this is not a false drill. I respond with a new post!

It gives me – Jacob Braybrooke – great pleasure to wish you a very happy new year as I have finally returned to address you as the writer of One Track At A Time, a website that was previously a diary of discovery when it came to finding new music and exposing the dynamic duo (known as your eyes and ears) to a range of unique bands that I would never wish to fly under your radar otherwise. If you are following the blog and, of course, reading this – I want to say a huge thank you. The main reason why I’ve been on hiatus for so long is the ‘D’ word – and I’m not talking about ‘Drums’ or ‘Drill & Bass’, or whatever basic innuendo that your mind conjures up, but the ‘D’ that worms into your brain and lies to you. Telling you about your inadequacy and lack of worth. Conveniently timed at a period where I was leaving the ‘Cocoon’ known as university life. I began working a stop-gap job in retail and I’m accepting that I’m becoming older and that, to be honest, I absolutely hate said stop-gap job. Therefore, I’ve decided to pick myself up off the canvas and search for career opportunities in the music industry. Although, however armed with excitement and nostalgia that I am to be writing about a fantastic new band once again that I am, I have to face the facts that my writing is very rusty now. Therefore, I’ve decided to start posting again. Not everyday – maintaining my own radio show, job applications, stop-gap job and writing every single day, like I used to back in the peak day, is going to be a little overwhelming. As a result of this, I will simply post a few times over the upcoming weeks, maybe not even publicise it so much, treat you like the old friend that you are and sharpen my skills for the mountain of impending cover letters and personal statements that are inevitably on my way while creating a platform for emerging artists to thrive because my mission, as an individual, is to combat the generic that you hear everywhere from the mainstream media trying to mass market. It’s been about that all along not just holding the fort for a company solely interested in profit.

In my first comeback post of 2024 – although ‘Love Myself’ by Hailee Steinfeld or ‘Fight Song’ by Rachel Platten’ may be a little more fitting of my current mindset – I present to you the Dublin-based indie punk-rock band who are called SPRINTS. It’s always difficult to find new music in the dustbin grounds of January, but these Clash-supported rockers are taking the alternative rock scene in the UK by storm all of a sudden. They were formed in 2019 when they went to see Savages and they were inspired by how deaf the gig was slowly making them. This past weekend, the 4-piece released their debut studio album ‘Letter To Self’ to positive reviews by The Guardian, DIY, Dork and Loud & Quiet. Bolstered by powerfully intimate tracks which explore the self-image of frontwoman Karla Chubb as an independent Punk pioneer of the new wave of futuristic Post-Punk acts in the UK, it’s definitely one that appeals to fans of Paramore and Catatonia. Check out the single that says it all, ‘Up and Comer’, below.

“I understand that women should have access to abortion, and I understand that mental health services are not adequate to stop people from committing suicide, so yeah, I don’t know exactly how much money is being spent on it but I don’t need to in order to tell you that it’s not enough“, Karla passionately writes in the band’s bio on the City Slang Records website, adding, “It’s just a class barrier to make people feel like, if they’re not educated enough, then they can’t be involved in the conversation. But you don’t have to be Usain Bolt to run a race, and you don’t have to understand the theory of everything to understand that, morally, someone’s an asshole.” to her speech on what inspires the political aspects of her band’s songwriting on their label’s page.

These themes of how mental health affects feminimity are abundantly clear on ‘Up and Comer’ – today’s track – which begins with a barrelling power-pop guitar riff that steadily builds to create a crescendo of anger when the bass and drums kick in. “I swim the seas between paranoia and disbelief/I reach the surface but the air is hard to breathe” and “Wear a smile like it’s a runner/Your despise like a badge of honour”. she croons, as the swelling guitar chords and the upbeat yet controlled drum beats push and pull the rhythm. There’s a seething quality to the mood of the track, where the rage boils like a kettle as the chorus kicks in and gently retreats as the verses appear. The pace is smooth and clear, however, with the rhythm retreating at a more subtle rate than you may expect. It keeps the fiesty emotion of the track in relevance but it allows the chorus to stand out by increasing the intensity that is maintained to a lesser degree of abrasion. I love the lyrics of the chorus too, where Karla croons, “They say she’s good for an up and comer”, in response to how she feels patronised by those who are commenting on her level of prominence as an emerging artist despite feeling that she’s as experienced as those other artists who have already made an impact. Overall, ‘Up and Comer’ is an effective Punk tune that sounds accessible and catchy, but they personally establishe a truthful quality that leans into the aggressive edge of the quartet’s sound. In this case of finding success on the long and winding road of sustaining yourself as an indie musician, it’s easy to see why the press have quickly encouraged a SPRINT and not a marathon for this promising band.

That’s all for now! I hugely appreciate your time and attention that you have given the post that you have just read. The next one won’t take 10 months to complete – you’ll be pleased to know. I currently run a weekly podcast titled Eclectic & Electric that fulfills a similar purpose of challenging the “generic” that the powers be love so deeply which you can find here: https://www.mixcloud.com/jacob-braybrooke/eclectic-electric-first-show-of-2024-january-8th-2024-spotted-in-ely-radio/. You can also find me on the social media accounts below to stay in touch and discover new music.

X (Formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/JacobBraybrook2

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jbraybrookerecords/?hl=en