Vol. IV

One of the best garage punk bands you’ve never heard of, Seattle’s Spits have a storied career involving nearly 15 years of mayhem and crude fun, fueled by their passion for beer, girls, and B-movies (we should probably say “beer” again). Live shows are intense, loud, and entertaining: seeing robots on stage or the guys dressed in masks or black hoods is to be expected. Part straight-ahead Ramones-style blitzkrieg and part metallic-edged art-punk (à la Chrome), brothers Sean and Erin Wood lead the band through odes to partying, girls, and life on the road. Songs like “Tonight” and “Rip Up the Streets” recall both the Ramones and the Misfits, with vocal and guitar melodies whip-sharp and memorable; the band’s humor peppers tracks like “Life of Crime” and “Alienize,” without dulling their edge. The soul-killing realities of life on the road are given a therapeutic butt-kicking in “Live In a Van,” the tune’s staccato drums and sliced ’n’ diced guitar distilling palpable frustrations. But who do they think they’re kidding? The Spits wouldn’t have it any other way.