Stream: Spider “Boozetown”

(from the self-titled EP out now on Thrift Store)

Spider’s first EP is a collection of all their recordings to date, including the songs previously released on their Hozac 7-inch. (The original is impossible to find unless some German nerd decides to sell it for a hundred bucks on Ebay.) This mysterious duo from west L.A. are OG’s of the American glue wave or bedroom wave style of music and have inspired strange bands across the globe with inspired shut-in weirdness. It’s a treat to have it all on one record. Half dumpster-score electronic beats and keyboards and half damaged-missing-strings punk guitar, this album utilizes the best strangled sounds I’ve heard in years. Song titles like “Boozetown,” “Witch Cookie,” “Scraping The Ruins” and a cover of Redd Kross’ “Charlie” pretty much sum up the deranged mindset. The fact that they have barely any information to identify themselves as human beings on or in the album makes you wonder what these two do when they are not making records. The EP reminds me of looking into someone’s window at night when walking down the street. Most of the time you see people sitting on the couch watching TV—but sometimes you catch something out of the corner of your eye that makes you look back. I’d imagine if I passed their window at night, I might see something very bizarre and if I looked back to make sure that what I saw was true, they would have drawn the curtains. They are the neighbors that make noise at all hours of the night and when the cops show up, there is nothing going on and the cops have to apologize. This is a party going on in another dimension peopled by beings with extra limbs and eyes where there shouldn’t be eyes. It’s H.P. Lovecraft getting ripping drunk and wearing a lampshade on his head while a vampire and a mummy are making out in the corner. Yes, you can dance your ass off to this music—just don’t get caught dragging the bodies out the back door.

—John Henry