To The Monsters
Self-Released, 2019
8/10
A Phoenix outfit who have been plugging away since the late ‘90s, The Spider Hole carry influences as vast as Tom Waits, Primus and Frank Zappa, and birth a highly unusual and eclectic version of alt-rock where each song here is about a different monster.
“Werewolf Biker Bastard (From Shit-Town, AZ)” starts the album with some gothic desert sounds and gravelly vocals in a dusty, hazy setting that builds into some version of rockabilly, and “Still Draw Breath” follows with a variation of alt-rock that’s charged and quite unusual yet enticing.
Further along, “Rock, Your Body” soars with a great balance of power and melody, while “Chomp-Chomp” recruits a dramatic atmosphere of biting vocals and playful instrumentation.
The back half of the album is equally interesting, with the nearly cinematic “Devil By A Nail” and the driving, visceral “The Leviathan Stomp”. The album ends on “Night Of The Nighty-Night Slasher (‘84 Demo)”, which starts out like a soundtrack to a slasher film, before finding a thundering groove of crashing percussion and thriving energy.
Often reminding us of an aberrant version of Calexico on steroids, this 3rd album even comes with a graphic novel that suits the meticulous, unpredictable and unique approach to the ominous formula of The Spider Hole perfectly.
Travels well with: Siouxsie And The Banshees- Peepshow; Pixies- Doolittle