Riding a wave of hype off the back of their hugely successful debut album, the Austin 4 piece are finishing up their sold out tour in King Tuts.
Supporting are Aerial Salad, an irreverent 3 piece band from Manchester, “I just had a curry, not ideal before 30 minutes of cardio” declared lead Jamie. They weren’t lying about cardio as they bounced around the stage for 30 minutes straight, energetic and bouncy post punk with gritty delivery. Very fun set although I am not certain there was a huge crossover with the Die Spitz fanbase.
Next up were Die Spitz, this show had been a sellout for quite a few months and it was a bit of a surprise it didn’t move to a bigger venue already. “Something to Consume” came out in September last year to much excitement and critical acclaim and there was an obvious air of excitement around the Tuts room which packed out well before the band came on stage. Not encumbered by their hype the band nonchalantly walked on stage “someone forgot to put on some entry music, so urm hello” as singer/guitarist Eleanor introduces the band playing up the awkwardness.
Boldly choosing to not kick off with a track of the recent hit album, “I hate when GIRLS die” immediately sets the tone with metal power chords and Ava’s guttural screaming. “Monkey Song” and “American Porn” follow and it feels a lot like we are getting 4 bands in one as we move between doom metal, riot grrrl punk, indie rock and everywhere between. Every song is ferocious and frenetic and the crowd is jumping for every bit of it.
Eleanor takes a few skirmishes into the audience, but there is none of the raucous antics and crowd surfing that previous shows have seen, it feels like the band are expecting a bit more from the crowd, however King Tuts is rarely a wild house and this is more crowd activity than I have come to expect from a tuts show. After taking a second to make their politics clear (“Fuck ICE” specifically) “this song is about piss” as they launch into “My Hot Piss” to bring back the humour.
Prompting the crowd to cheer them back before leaving for their encore was not subtle but Die Spitz are not going to be described as subtle very often, they are bold, fun and very much in your face. They more than live up to the hype and time is running out to catch them in the smaller venues.
Words & Pictures: Dale Harvey @daleharvey