Spiritual Cramp – “Talkin’ On the Internet”

If you’ve even spent even a few minutes scrolling today’s timeline, you know how it goes. On this end, the least enjoyable part about writing a music site is the necessary evil that is social media. Sharing new music out into the world and finding small corners of readers and listeners who like what you cover has its rewarding moments, but all of that can be undone so very fast upon encountering a certain kind of individual. Typically, they’ve amassed platforms by being very online, being very loud, and always talking shit when they should just be celebrating their many W’s. They don’t see themselves as the troublemakers. Irony is that a few of these people count themselves as friends, or at the very least mutuals, of Spiritual Cramp who seem to absolutely hate this behavior. But even Spiritual Cramp knows they’re being idiots, and the derision can’t be contained on “Talkin’ On the Internet”, the lead single from the Bay Area punk crew’s eponymous debut full-length. This energy doesn’t really come as a surprise, considering the band recently called out phone culture on the most recent singles, and its amplified here through its high voltage take on garage punk with a party fervor where Michael Bingham and company smash through the Wi-Fi waves. “You’re always running your mouth / About somebody else / You never leave your house / We don’t see you around.” The jolt attempts to force you back into reality where maybe, you know, reading someone’s very fair opinion on an artist or the eyebrow-raising aspects of music culture that seem to benefit only shouldn’t be reason to spearhead extreme mob discourse against them. If this sharp reminder to touch grass every once in awhile isn’t clear enough here after giving it just one listen, then maybe you don’t deserve Spiritual Cramp in your life either.

Directed by: Sean Stout