THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “San Francisco sextet Spiritual Cramp have brought back gang vocals as pop, and now they’re popping moped wheelies in DIY parking lots from coast to coast. Anyone who has seen the band since their inception in 2016 knows that they are stylish and impressively reek of charisma, and following numerous EPs and a compilation of early 7”s, their self-titled debut takes it to new levels.
Even from the band’s beginnings, Spiritual Cramp were about, in part, “acting like loud assholes, but really you’re just projecting your own insecurities and taking up space because you want to be seen.” The songs on the new album are heavy with this self-interrogation, even when delivered via two and a half minute bounce house thrill rides. When not tunefully raging/ranting about riots, killer cops, and societal decay, singer Michael Bingham is going deep and lacerating on his own sense of inadequacy, complicity, and an overwhelming inclination towards cutting off his own nose to spite every face in the bar. There’s also a gloriously sweet and bracingly lovely song (Herbert’s On Holiday) about how the singer’s sad-sack-of-shit life was saved by his wife.
All together, the album is 10 tracks of jagged bubblegum, which sound huge and propulsive, but not in a way that feels forced or even overly intentional. With the added benefit of also feeling true. With the onset popularity of various and sundry tuff-boy guitar rock, it can be difficult to separate the real ones from the next-Turnstile strivers, but Spiritual Cramp’s place within a gritty and sweet rock and roll tradition. The sound is accessible, ready for the big stage, but with a sly sneer befitting the absurdity of modern life, and a casual integrity.
Spiritual Cramp are Michael Bingham (vocals), Michael Fenton (bass), Jose Luna (auxiliary percussionist), Jacob Breeze and Nate Punty (guitars), plus Julian Smith on drums. Spiritual Cramp was produced by Bingham and Fenton, with additional production by Luna and Carlos De La Garza (M83, Paramore, Best Coast, Linda Lindas), who also mixed the album. It was mastered by Dave Collins and engineered by longtime friend and collaborator Grace Coleman, at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco.
The band bring fast downstrokes and upstrokes with hip-hop production and reggae inspirations to a Taking Heads-meets-Big Audio Dynamite-meets-Clash-styled punk, finding a balance between Molotov protest songs and genuine personal struggle. Both are a product of Bingham and Fenton coming up in San Francisco’s Bay Area. Praised for being a band in their own lane, their well-documented live shows and a handful of EPs have garnered the band a consistent buzz and support from the likes of Iggy Pop, Viagra Boys, Turnstile, Gel, Deavheaven, Turnover, Militarie Gun and many more.”
