ALBUM REVIEW: RUDE BY SPIRITUAL CRAMP

Reviewed by Cecilia Pattison-Levi

San Francisco punk act Spiritual Cramp have their sophomore album ‘RUDE’ hitting the airwaves. And, in that spirit, a radio broadcast of “rude boy sounds” is sampled as it opens the first song ‘I’m An Anarchist’ and it’s a blast of pure pop-punk and a protest song. It’s short and sweet. The band, Michael Bingham (vocals), Mike Fenton (bass), Jacob Breeze (lead guitar), Nate Punty (rhythm guitar), Julian Smith (drums) and José Luna (keyboards and percussion) have their sense of humour in check. The next song starts with “Big time” as ‘Go Back Home’ and it’s a fast pace track that references The Ramones with its big guitar solo and driving drum beat, and is an ode to their love of their home town. The single ‘At My Funeral’ is a great song with its quirky sense of humour added to big guitars and thumping rhythms.

Nothing on this album overstays its welcome. Spiritual Cramp have delivered economical songs that are on point. The song highlights on the album are the terrific “I have to have what’s bad for me” in ‘Automatic’ and ‘You’ve Got My Number’ (featuring Sharon Van Etten) with the classy mix of devil and angel mix of vocals and the big guitar riffs. The following ‘I Hate The Way I Look’ is a classic rock song with its garage rock sonic vibe. It’s sure to be a live favourite as it’s funny “exercise cannot fix me”.

Then, the end of Side A comes in a 22 second interlude as the listener goes back to the radio with ‘Intro - Violence In The Super Market’.

Side B starts with the synth and reggae-touched ‘Violence In The Super Market’ and it’s followed by the traditional pop-punk of ‘True Love (Is Hard To Find)’. Spiritual Cramp really are a band that can switch genres quickly. They are also delivering an album to their hometown in these songs. The band mention “home” in just about every song. The song ‘Crazy’ is a song I have a lot of sympathy for, and it’s about falling “out of love” and wanting to “bury my head in the sand”: “As everyone is driving me crazy”. It’s a great song and a song for our times!

The track ‘Young Offenders’ blends Spiritual Cramp’s punk energy with ‘drinking beer” and new wave electronics. It’s spiky and another album highlight about San Francisco nights. The song ‘New Religion’ is a mid-tempo rocker about a crisis in faith and love – “life is a mystery” with added whistling and some great harmonies from the backing singers. The album closes out with ‘People Don’t Change’ and it addresses the fact that life is full of people making mistakes, but as the proverb goes, “a leopard doesn’t change its spots”,and that’s the point of the song.

Spiritual Cramp, in ‘RUDE’ find their balance between feisty punk attitude, cheekiness, and humour paired with their raw energy. It’s a great mix. If you like pop-punk, then this album is a fun ride.