Sparta, the El Paso band featuring Jim Ward, has been celebrating the 20th anniversary of their critically acclaimed debut album Wiretap Scars  touring the U.S. throughout the past year.  Now, the seminal and now-legendary debut record, lovingly pressed onto vinyl will be made available officially for the first time. Originally released on Dreamworks records in 2002, it is seeing vinyl release from Canadian Indie powerhouse, Dine Alone Records, who have been releasing new music from both Sparta and Jim Ward since 2020. 

Sparta will head to Europe for a run of shows followed by even more dates in the US and Canada supporting Thursday and Moneen. This marks Sparta’s first tour of 2023 and a follow up to their fall 2022 tour supporting The Get Up Kids. 

Featuring fan-favorites “Air,” and “Cut Your Ribbon,” Wiretap Scars was released in August 2002. At the time Sparta was Ward, Matt Miller, Paul Hinojos, and Tony Hajjar. The 4 formed Sparta following the break of their former band, the post-hardcore At the Drive-In.