Tilt #5 – Sprints, Turnstiles and TV People @ The Button Factory, Dublin 18/02/2020

Tilt returned to The Button Factory for its fifth instalment, bringing three of Ireland’s most promising acts, Sprints, Turnstiles and TV People together.

Words by Jack Squibb

Tilt is hosted by 98 FM’s Totally Irish presenter John Barker and Sound Training Productions. Once a month the duo team up and bring a collection of exciting Irish music to The Button Factory in Dublin.

For its fifth instalment, Tilt got underway with Dublin’s TV People. The band doused the Button Factory in sounds that would throw you back to New York in the early 2000s. A time when The Strokes, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and Interpol all gave a new lease of life for the indie scene.

Their silky melodies swept around the room, with songs like ‘Healthier Days’ that swooned the crowd as Paul Donohoe sung of clinging on for better days.

New single, ‘Kitchen Sinking’ was like listening to Interpol during their early days, with a bass line, Interpol’s first bassist, Carlos Dengler would be proud of.

It was a dreamy start to the night, which was about to take a sharp and livelier turn with Galway lads, Turnstiles up next.

Fronted by Londoner Callum Mitchell, Turnstiles stirred up a storm within the venue. Opening with their new single, ‘Tantrum’ is about using music as an escapism. When Mitchell spat out “music is my mind’s asylum, everything else is silence…”, it was anything but silence as the guitars and drums erupted.

An emphatic start set the tone for a breathless performance of sheer punk for half an hour.

In a time where we’ve been give all these sub-genres of punk, Turnstiles are keeping it old-school. Mitchell, channels the likes of legends, Iggy Pop and John Lydon. While the band around him thrash out rip-roaring riffs and explosive drums.

The band’s other singles ‘Wasting Away’ and ‘Moving Forward’ blast through in a flash of soaring guitars and are done in the blink of an eye. The band also threw in a heavy-hitting cover of Slowthai’s ‘Doorman’.

Turnstiles are going to be dominating Ireland’s punk scene, it’s not a question of if but when for the Galway band.

Keeping the tempo going, Sprints took over to see the night out. It was out of the frying pan with Turnstiles and into the fire with Sprints. The quartet were breathless during their set.

Stacked with gritty hooks and dirty bass lines, the band’s sound was infectious. Karla Chubb sang with a sense of urgency throughout the set. Their performance on stage was riveting, as Chubb couldn’t be held to one spot, taken over by her own music.

Improvisation was sought, while bassist Sam McCann played with a bottle of Koppaberg for effect. While Chubb got flexible, slowly leaning down as her mic etched closer to the floor before a roadie propped it back up.

Sprints are a band that need to be experienced live. With the wildness of their first single ‘The Cheek’ made to be shouted back at them and new single, ‘Kissing Practice’ causing the ground to shake with its heavy bass line and sharp riffs perfect to thrash around to.

They know how to work a crowd and stir things up. It’s no wonder their upcoming gig at Whelan’s with TV People sold out weeks in advance.

Three of Ireland’s finest emerging talents for 2020. While Tilt’s events are free, it won’t be long before you’ll be paying to get into bigger venues to see TV People, Turnstiles and Sprints.