Spiritual Cramp

Praise for Spiritual Cramp:

“Angular riffs and super-melodic vocals that feel more in line with the kind of thing Interpol or The Strokes were spitting out two decades ago…This all adds up to a pretty exciting band that you want to know more about.” - The FADER

“Spiritual Cramp meld together choppy pop-edged songwriting with a garage punk onslaught.” - CLASH 

“A mechanistic rocker with a contagious lockstep rhythm, some glammy throwback rock ‘n’ roll energy, and a hell of a hook” - Stereogum

“The punk album I'm looking forward to the most for the rest of this year.” - The Needledrop

Just a few weeks from releasing their debut self-titled album via Blue Grape Music - home to Code Orange - Spiritual Cramp share final single ‘Better Of This Way’.

An epic, shoot-em-up-inspired music video, it was directed by Sean Stout, and features the band members as Guy Ritchie-esque characters as they chase one another through the warehouses and canyons of LA, trying to take possession of a mysterious suitcase. The video also features friend of the band Ian Shelton of Militarie Gun. 

Out November 3rd via Blue Grape Music, debut album Spiritual Cramp was produced by Michael Bingham and Michael Fenton of the band and includes additional production from Carlos de la Garza (Paramore, M83, The Linda Linda's, Cherry Glazerr, etc.), who also mixed the album. It includes singles ‘Herberts On Holiday’ and ‘Talkin’ On The Internet’.

The band brings 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, V*gra Boys, Turnstile, Gel, Deavheaven, Turnover, Militarie Gun and many more.

More about Spiritual Cramp:

Spiritual Cramp have brought back gang vocals as pop, and popping moped wheelies in DIY parking lots from coast to coast. Anyone who has seen the San Francisco band since their inception in 2016, knows that they are stylish and impressively reek of charisma, and following numerous EPs and a Deranged Records released compilation of early 7”s, their debut record Spiritual Cramp sees them take this to new levels.

Even from the band’s beginnings, Spiritual Cramp was 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 ten 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 is 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, The Linda Linda’s) 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.