When Le Tigre put out their self-titled debut album in 1999, the opening track "Deceptacon" felt like an instant underground smash and a full-on manifesto. It was as charged and immediate as any of the music that Kathleen Hanna made with her previous band Bikini Kill, and it radiated the same sense of disgust at the dudes around her. But it also had this joyous DIY electro thing going on, which felt completely new.
Over the years, the song has crossed over, appearing in a ton of movies and commercials, to the point where it's hard to remember that it was ever underground. My teenage daughter is teaching herself guitar right now, and the "Come As You Are" and "Deceptacon" riffs were the first ones that she learned. Now, Sprints, the extremely sick Dublin post-punkers, have dropped their own version of "Deceptacon," and it rips hard.
Sprints were a Stereogum Band To Watch in 2023, and their sophomore album All That Is Over came out a few months ago. That's a really good record. Their version of "Deceptacon" is both joyful and vengeful, and it's fun to hear them reproducing the synth bits on guitar. They've been playing it live for a little while, and now the studio version is out.
In the Bandcamp description, lead Sprint Karla Chubb says, "I’m not sure there’s a womxn in the world who plays guitar that hasn’t been inspired by Kathleen Hanna. ‘Deceptacon’ is a dance-punk classic, a constant in the tour van, and a cover we used to throw into festival sets for fun. What better way to mark our return to the States and honour our love of US punk than to release our little rendition of 'Deceptacon.'" Below, listen to the Sprints version and the Le Tigre original.
Sprints' "Deceptacon" cover is out now on Sub Pop.
