Spiritual Cramp drop savagely moreish new album ‘RUDE’
Cali punks strike gold in the follow-up to their 2023 debut, making for one of the finest pop-punk albums in recent history.
Photo: Sarah Davis
The opener on Spiritual Cramp’s latest record, I’m An Anarchist, is Sex Pistols meets Green Day, in one of the finest punk-rock compositions to come out of the 2020s. From the ‘70s through to the ‘90s, the millennium and the present day, there’s a reason the concept of anarchy comes up time and time again in song: it’s a whole lot of fun. Follow-up track Go Back Home is a fast-paced, chugging spectacle, with a nuanced, face-melting solo.
Spiritual Cramp stuffs dry humour with powder keg choruses in At My Funeral, while Automatic masterfully recreates The Vaccines’ sound of synth-punctuated heartland rock. You can hear it on any radio station, and you’d shut your dearest friend up to listen.
There’s a spirited collaboration between the group and vocalist Sharon Van Etten in You’ve Got My Number, and sheer noise-punk perfection in screamer I Hate the Way I Look.
Violence in the Supermarket, whose lowdown, groovy beat mimics the best of The Clash, must have drawn inspiration from Lost in the Supermarket off the latter’s London Calling.
It’s a standout moment, hammering home just how talented this group of musicians really are; track eight and not a single track begs ‘skip’.
Crazy and Young Offenders are indie belters any band would be proud to have on their record, and New Religion packs a mean catchy whistle hook, echoing some of the alt-rock greats like Pumped Up Kicks and The High Flying Birds’ Holy Mountain. People Don’t Change, the album’s grand finale, is total 2000s hangover-rock, a la The Killers’ Hot Fuss.
So rarely is the term ‘all killer, no filler’ actually true. Even the best albums of all time have a bit of fluff. London Calling had Koka Kola and Lover’s Rock, Never Mind the Bollocks… had Seventeen. Here, on RUDE, Spiritual Cramp have left nothing to trim; punk rock’s answer to Ozempic. All the same, the record is a shot of pure adrenaline and an insanely fun ride.
RUDE is out now via Blue Grape Music.