Spiritual Cramp – “Rude”

If we’re honest, we nearly didn’t review this album as when we saw the press release it didn’t initially appeal to us. Why? Band name is apparently taken from a Christian Death song (our goth past was a few months obsessed with the Sisters of Mercy/The Mission/Fields of the Nephilim). Also the album title links to the Rude Boy culture and ska sound which doesn’t really hold an appeal for us. But thank god we did give it a spin as, spoiler alert, it’s awesome!

The album opens with the intro track “I’m An Anarchist” which introduces the punk feel of the album and the short snippet sounds like a punked up Gaslight Anthem. It also has the neat trick of being quiet which encourages you to turn up the volume just before the next track, “Go Back Home” kicks in. That song along with the likes of “I Hate The Way I Look” are brilliant pure punk, rock n roll. There’s a hint of 70’s punk nostalgia but they equally share a modern rock sound.

One of the joys of this album is that, whilst the band is clearly rooted in old school punk, they deliver it with a modern twist, which brings in more recent influences. There’s an almost Franz Ferdinand post punk angular feel to “At My Funeral” which could make it an indie club dancefloor filler. Similarly “Automatic” sounds a bit like the band we always wished The Strokes had been. A special mention also has to go to the sublime “You’ve Got My Number”. A track which surprisingly includes a guest appearance by Sharon Van Etten (apparently the singer’s partner cuts her hair!). It’s a classy, anthemic track that you could see being a huge commercial hit.

Amongst all the influences, you can’t ignore the strong presence of The Clash. Something the band clearly aren’t ashamed to flaunt by naming a track “Violence In The Supermarket”. That song and “Crazy” are the ones where they do allow their reggae/ska influence to come to the fore (but in the same punk way The Clash did). But, like The Clash, Spiritual Cramp also know the benefits of adding a bit of ‘pop’ melody into their tracks as witnessed by “True Love (Is Hard To Find)” and “Young Offenders”.

In a blink of an eye you’re at the end of the record with “People Don’t Change” a song that reminds you what a great album this is but also how fun it is to listen to. It may have come relatively late in the year but this is definitely up there as our favourite release of the year. Indeed, we’d say this is THE best punk rock release of the year. It passed the key acid test that as soon as we finished reviewing it, we went out and bought it on vinyl (along with the band’s debut release) and we recommend you do the same!