The Spits sound like a transmission from a haunted arcade that only plays punk rock. Their music is a high-speed collision between the primitive energy of 1977 punk and the buzzy, cheap electronics of a 1980s toy keyboard. It is intentionally messy, gloriously distorted, and stripped of any pretense or polish. Every track feels like a two-minute sprint through a basement filled with fog machines and tinfoil.
What truly sets them apart is their 'Punk for the People' ethos combined with a bizarre, theatrical visual identity. While the music is rooted in the gritty tradition of garage rock, the addition of eerie, simplistic synth lines gives it a sci-fi, B-movie edge. They manage to be both intimidatingly loud and infectious, using repetitive hooks that stick in your head long after the feedback fades.
Start with their self-titled 2002 album (often called '2') or '19 Million A.C.' to hear the quintessential Spits sound. These records capture the band at their most visceral, delivering short, sharp shocks of adrenaline that have made them legends in the skate and garage punk scenes.
The Spits are an American punk rock band formed in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1993. They later moved to Seattle. Currently, the band has released six albums. All are officially self-titled, unofficially titled 1, 2, 3, 4, V, and VI respectively. The albums were released by Nickel and Dime Records, Slovenly Recordings, Dirtnap Records, Thriftstore Records and In the Red Records respectively for the first five. In October 2020, they released their latest album, VI, independently. The band describes itself as "Punk for the People", and focuses on loud, noisy, and dirty punk rock. On stage, band members frequently appear in costumes (e.g. graduation robes, nun outfits, Ronald Reagan masks, or toilet paper "mummy" costumes), and focus on the dirty, low-budget sound and presentation of garage punk. The Spits' "Bring Down" was featured in Al Partanen's skateboarding segment of the "Born Dead" skate video, as well as Darrel Mathe's section in the snowboarding video "love/HATE". "I H8 Pussies" was featured in Andy Forgash's segment in the snowboarding video, "Burning Bridges" as well. Their song, "Remote Control" appears in the Absinthe Films snowboarding video, "More". "Rip Up The Streets" was featured in Vans skate team commercial 2012 year. "All I Want" appeared in Zero Skateboards' "Less Than Zero" video in 2024, and the company released an official Spits deck and clothing collection that same year.
Cassette uses generative AI to enrich its catalog. How we use AI →