California Neo-Old School Punks SPIDER release new 3-tracked “Energy Gone Wrong”!

I clicked on this three song EP to give it a listen. I was asked to write a review for this band that I had never heard of called SPIDER. With a cool, basic skull cover art, it seemed worth a shot. Well, good thing I did because I was pleasantly surprised. The first song, Energy Gone Wrong, is nothing short of a burst of energy. Jumping right into the music, the singer, Hector Martinez, comes right in and almost sounds like Jello Biafra with his unique vocal style. Fast beats, old school meets new school guitar riffs, and everything in between make for an interesting new punk song.

The second song is a bit more of a noise-core circle pit song. And with a title like Depression, this song is anything but depressing.  “Depression’s got a hold on me!” screams the singer over circle pit riffs and bass lines from hell, courtesy of Jeff Abarta. A scratchy guitar solo from Karl Izumi, that comes to a crashing end and this song is complete. Another hit from this EP and I am hooked.

The final track, The Reaperbahn, is an eccentric song for sure. Starting off with a spoken word over some creepy guitar scratching and a drumbeat from Alf Silva, the song starts to pick up the pace until another circle pit frenzy breaks out. “Rock, roll, liberty in my soul” is sung over the chorus parts and helped keep the music in a dangerous place.

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This new EP rocks. I recommend getting your hands on it. Bringing old school sounds like DK, Black Flag, and Minor Threat and giving it a new school twist, was done perfectly. I’m anxious to catch them on tour and to hear more from them and you should be, as well.

SPIDER’s track-by-track commentary:

“Energy Gone Wrong”

Spider is an insurgent, raw, rhythmic, unrelenting 4 piece rock band. We thrive in a live environment, we live to perform and make sure whoever comes to our shows feels like it’s time well spent.

We’ve received comparisons to Black Flag, The Stooges and The Damned. Which is an honor. We are aware that we stand on the shoulders of giants, we echo a blast of punk rock DNA from the past but with our own unique fingerprint. All these elements definitely inform our new EP. From a lyrical standpoint the title track “Energy Gone Wrong” is steeped in existentialism. From a musical point of view the sonic message is visceral.

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“Depression”

I see the EP as a full blast create, play, destroy cycle. In the spirit of this vibe, the second track on the EP is “Depression.” As you know, this is a Black Flag cover. Our intent was to capture the furious honesty that this song deserves. I think we hit the mark with our rendition of this nihilist punk classic.

“The Reeperbahn”

In general, Spider songs tend to tap into the rage of the human condition of being born into a world we never asked to be in. Themes about navigating the paradox of life are always in the background. In a sense, the songs create themselves from our life experiences and the band is just a vehicle. Inspired by our first European tour and our stay in Hamburg Germany last year, “The Reeperbahn” captures the zeitgeist of St Pauli’s seedy entertainment district and the essence of tour life. The song treads new waters for the band with its melodic background vocals while still broadcasting with a sense of modern urgency.

Jul 20 Long Beach, CA (Record Release Party at The Prospector)
Jul 27 TBD
Jul 28 Bristol, UK
Jul 29 Amsterdam, NL
Jul 31 Leeds, UK
Aug 2 Manchester, UK
Aug 3 Blackpool, UK (Rebellion Festival)
Aug 16 Long Beach, C
Sep 27 Los Angeles, CA
Nov 15 Santa Barbara, CA