Spider Babies

Adventures in Sex and Violence (G.I. Productions)
by Jon Sarre

Here’s something which shouldn’t be recommended to feminists or sensitive people in general. One could probably characterize some of this band’s sentiments as, I don’t know,harsh maybe, misogynistic definitely, but a group who divides their record into a “sex side” and a “violence side” pretty much makes no bones about their er… sense of humor, right?

Caveat emptor aside, Spider Babies do this garage punk thing. They’ve got sorta Crampsy subject matter with titles like “I Wanna Eat Your Flesh” and “I’m Dead.” Occasionally a Mummiesque go-for-broke moment will crop up, like on “Watch Your Back” (but by no means do they come off like they were schooled in ’60s Nuggets stuff or ’50s rockabilly like the two above bands). Most of the riffage, instead, is akin to early ’80s hardcore, but it’s all cranked through Vox amps so Spider Babies kick out their jams like punk rock Troggs (is that redundant or what?), smoldering with sounds of fury as anybody from nowhere near Molalla, OR probably would if they thought about it for a second.

Needless to say, no one’s gonna accuse guys who come up with lyrics like “I’ve got a brand new babe/She’s only in 8th grade” of being heavy hitters in the intellectual department (and they’d probably stomp yer skinny ass if you were to). After all, we’re talking ’bout fuck songs, not love songs, plus other popular subject matter like rage, anger, brutality, revenge and, of course, sex and violence. That’s the Spider Babies, love ’em, hate ’em or just stay the fuck outta their way.