Angst again meets danceable riffs on this Bay Area band’s second album that features a duet with Sharon Van Etten, In these dark times and they are bordering on pitch black remembering to have a little fun is important, even as the world crumbles around us. Spiritual Cramp are here to help. After a decade on the scene, the Bay Area band — made up of vets from the hardcore world finally delivered their 2023 debut album, which took inspiration from the party-hardy ‘00s indie scene that gave us The Hives, The Strokes, and The White Stripes and many The O.C. soundtracks. Their second album, produced by John Congleton, expands their range while still delivering danceable, electro-fuelled rock earworms.
“Rude” isn’t all sunshine and rainbows; lyrically, most of the songs have a dark sense of humour that some might just see as dark. But they all deliver fist-pumping riffs and instantly memorable choruses, from the slashing “At My Funeral” (“nobody came”) to the Bloc Party-esque “Automatic,” the ripper “I Hate the Way That I Look,” and “True (Love is Hard to Find),” which finds frontman Mike Bingham questioning his recent move to L.A.
Congleton gives the whole thing what they used to call a radio-friendly sheen, expertly layering synths in with all the guitars. That takes them further into Killers territory on “Crazy” and “Young Offenders,” lets them explore their love of 2-Tone ska and reggae on “Violence in the Supermarket,” and paints a big canvas for “You’ve Got My Number,” an anthemic duet with Sharon Van Etten that has an irresistible “bah-dah-bah-dah” chorus. In another era, that one — and half this record — would’ve been hits.
released October 24th, 2025
Produced and Engineered by John Congleton
The Fat Angel Sings 