Sparkle Blood is a no-nonsense power-trio featuring airtight songcraft delivered in the time-honoured guitar/bass/drums combo. Topped off with some of the most winsome harmony singing you’ll hear this year, their new album ZIP ZAP offers a succinct, melodic meditation on the world today: half outrage, half celebration, and all hooks.
Our new album ZIP ZAP came out June 25, 2026 — order on white vinyl LP, cassette, or CD via Bandcamp or find it on all streaming platforms here! Here’s some nice reviews and things people said about it:
“Sparkle Blood’s music is tightly-constructed, beautifully-executed rock and roll, landing one ear candy hook after another with the skill of a champion prizefighter, all while wielding a deeply expressive and relatable sense of the scope of human emotion and experience.” (Grant Stovel, Host/Producer on CKUA Radio)
“If you’re on the hunt for a snappy, upbeat punk-rock record that has a lot of heart and humour,
look no further than Sparkle Blood’s latest album, ZIP ZAP. The dynamic trio from Lethbridge
delightfully comments on life throughout these 12 songs that deliver a solid, entertaining and infectious sound.” (Tara McCarthy, Host of Edmonton AM on CBC Radio One)
“… portraying mild angst and familiar emotions with such punchy, hooky parts and prose dares you to sing along.” (@EarshotDigitalDistro – “Song of the Day” for May 21, 2026)
“… through these fuzzy guitar riffs, Sparkle Blood has a sound somewhere between Dinosaur Jr and Bob Mould … put on this song [In Real Life] and follow the message.” (@RaisedByCassettes)
“… what makes Sparkle Blood stand out is how naturally everything seems to lock in. There’s a looseness to their delivery, but underneath it is a very deliberate sense of momentum—songs don’t meander, they move. … Sparkle Blood are carving out a space that feels both familiar and distinctly their own—hook-heavy, slightly ragged, and consistently fun” (@ThePartae)
“Fuzzy, sweetly distorted guitars and authoritative drumming … with the economical character that distinguishes bands who know exactly what a song needs from those who simply keep adding until something sticks … there is an ease to the way Stewart and Kate’s voices sit together…” (@TitsUponTyne)
UPCOMING SHOWS:
*** We’re dialing things back a bit for winter 2026 after touring our asses off this summer, but expect some announcements soon! ***
THE BAND:
Bre Day – drums
Bailey Kate – bass/vocals
Tyler Stewart – guitar/vocals
Sparkle Blood is a sinewy, no-nonsense power trio based in Lethbridge, Alberta. Their beginnings as a unit – more on that in a minute – are as charming as their music, which comes as a straight shot of supremely tight songcraft delivered in the time honoured guitar/bass/drums combo. Topped off with some of the most winsome harmony singing you’ll hear this year, their forthcoming album ZIP ZAP offers a succinct, melodic meditation on the world today: half outrage, half celebration, and all hooks.
Guitarist/songwriter Tyler Stewart (Starpainter, Atomicos) and drummer Bre Day (Peace For Bombs) are a couple, and their White Stripes-esque beginnings were originally just a fun extension of their relationship and desire to try new things. In 2013, they played their first official gig, which led to a flurry of activity and the eventual release of Denim Tape in 2016. After a little break that ended up flowing right into the pandemic, the duo started picking things up again in 2024. Feeling the the need to fill in both the low and high end of the group sound, they invited local singer-songwriter & musician Bailey Kate into the fold. While initially signing on to “maybe sing some harmonies,” Stewart recalls, “one day she just showed up at practice and had learned all the bass lines, so that was that!”
Bailey’s effortless, locked-in singing acts as a perfect foil for Stewart’s clear & direct singing style, and this should come as no surprise to those who know her work with Lethbridge’s finest twangy songsmiths Starpainter, or from her solo project under her own name, trading in her own brand of luminously elegant songwriting. The pair easily conjure some of the great “boy/girl” singing bands like Juliana Hatfield-era Lemonheads, the Deal-Black axis contained within the Pixies, and inspired pairing of Rick White and Julie Doiron in Eric’s Trip.
Economy is the order of the day on ZIP ZAP; not one song overstays its welcome, and you’ll be flipping this album over and over again without even realizing it. “Totally Ignorant”, a ridiculously catchy takedown of those caught with their heads in the sand, clocks in at less than 90 seconds, but never feels slight. With only one song cracking the 3-minute marker, it’s clear that Sparkle Blood is a band that knows how to expertly take their shot and keep moving. Stewart’s writing exists in the grand tradition of truncated, blink-and-it’s-over songcraft, following the breadcrumbs left by bands like the Ramones, Guided By Voices, The Minutemen, and even beloved Edmonton pop-punkers The Allovers.
ZIP ZAP‘s opener “Mad About It” disguises seething discontent in sing-along melodies and infectious gang vocals, provided by a flock of friends the band invited into studio one night. This crew of like minded folks helped bring what the band calls “big pal energy”, and provides something of a mission statement for the album. “We wanted to express our gratitude for the positive relationships that help us navigate the hard times,” Stewart says. “Where would we be without our pals?”
Similarly, “Burning Barrel” and “I Don’t Know” both showcase classic songwriting moves that propose a holy union of Buddy Holly and the Buzzcocks, with a dash of Hüsker Dü thrown in for good measure. Like the latter Minneapolitan hardcore trailblazers, Sparkle Blood delivers its pop hooks with a good amount of grunge baked in, and this duality – which Bailey refers to as “happy punk” – courses through ZIP ZAP. “This album speaks to the importance of recognizing we all have to take an active role in shaping the society we want to live in,” Stewart reflects, “but at the same time, we can’t take every moment of every day too seriously.”
So if sweetly fuzzy guitars, thumping, authoritative drumming, and sing-along-ready melodies cut through with a serious sense of fun and real-world rumination sounds like your thing, you may very well be waiting for this album without even knowing it.
— bio courtesy Chris Dadge
ZIP ZAP out June 25, 2026 — order today on Bandcamp or find it on all streaming platforms here!
RECENT SHOWS:
Saturday, September 26 — Medicine Hat, AB — Down Right Festival
Saturday, September 19 — Lethbridge, AB — Word on the Street Festival
Saturday, August 29 — Calgary, AB — Establishment Brewing w/ Really Much + Soft Pet
Wednesday, August 19 — Lethbridge, AB — Whoop Up Days
Tuesday, July 28 — Lethbridge, AB — Wide Skies Festival
Thursday, July 16 — Lethbridge, AB — Upside Downtown Festival
Sunday, July 12 — Summerland, BC — Detonate Brewing Company w/ Johnny & The Utahs
Saturday, July 11 — Victoria, BC — Little Fernwood w/ Aversions, October Crisis, Calutron Girls
Friday, July 10 — Nanaimo, BC — The Globe w/ Aversions, Death Drops, Ancient City Teahouse Party
Thursday, July 9 — Vancouver, BC — Green Auto w/ Aversions, Wack, ENDs
Wednesday, July 8 — Kamloops, BC — Pizza Pi w/Johnny and The Utahs, Mervis Blue
Tuesday, July 7 — Banff, AB — Pump & Tap w/ The Morons, Company of Wizards, Human Stain
Friday, June 26 — Lethbridge, AB — Owl Acoustic Lounge w/ Rinthy, Really Much, Top Silog
Saturday, June 20 — Medicine Hat, AB — Studio Fore w/ Real Sickies
Saturday, April 11 — Lethbridge, AB — Owl Acoustic Lounge w/ Nightshades
Friday, April 10 — Saskatoon, SK — Amigos Cantina w/ Go Bwah + Hollow Oax
Thursday, April 9 — Edmonton, AB — Dive Bar w/ Mox Jet + Blood Cell
Wednesday, April 8 — Calgary, AB — Ship & Anchor w/ Lush Clot
Saturday, February 7 — Drumheller, AB — Cold Bones Festival
Saturday, January 24 — Calgary, AB — Establishment Brewing w/ Salt Horse + Really Much
Saturday, December 13 — Edmonton, AB — Blakbar w/ Peasant Vision + Pike
Friday, December 12 — Drumheller, AB — Heller Good w/ Cope
Thursday, December 11 — Lethbridge, AB — Owl Acoustic Lounge w/ Cope + Sentries
Saturday, December 6 — Saskatoon, SK — Black Cat Tavern w/ The Moon Runners + Sadie Hawkinz
Friday, December 5 — Regina, SK — O’Hanlons w/ The Moon Runners
Friday, November 7 — Lethbridge, AB — Owl Acoustic Lounge w/ By Divine Right, Deep Archive
Friday, October 24 — Calgary, AB — Loophole Coffee Bar w/ Dream Creeps, Fulfilment, Innerouter
Tuesday, June 3 — Lethbridge, AB — Owl Acoustic Lounge w/ B.A. Johnston, Peace for Bombs
Friday, May 9 — Lethbridge, AB — Theoretically Brewing w/ MomBod, The Summer Ends
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