Spite And Desertion

I took a chance on the first Spite House record back in 2022, and while I didn't really listen to it a whole lot at the time, it was a really solid album that reminded me of some of the melodic post-punk stuff of the early 90's. I've come to really appreciate that record over the past couple of years, but I was still a bit hesitant when I discovered that they had a new album on the way this year. I'm aware that skepticism is my default reaction, especially when it comes to new music from band that play this kind of style... like, okay your band was good enough to pull off one record, but surely you will fuck up the next attempt and go too soft and melodic... but most of the time bands prove me wrong, and I'm happy that is the case with the new Spite House album, Desertion.

While it took me some time to ease into the self-titled Spite House album, with Desertion, I was immediately hooked. I'm not sure if the songs are better here, or if it was my state of mind, but right from the start I was into it. I'm kind of at a loss as how to describe this... on the one hand they remind me of that 90's melodic style that bands like Garden Variety were doing, but I also hear some Title Fight here... I don't know but it is really good.

Violet a-side and blue b-side with glitter colored vinyl. Limited to 150.

Spite House

When I was picking up the End On End record from New Morality Zine over the summer, I decided to see what else the label had going on. They had a couple of great releases under their belt from Rule Them All and Sunstroke, so I wanted to see if they had any other hidden gems to discover.

While in the NMZ store, the cover art for the Spite House record preorder caught my eye. It looked interesting, so I clicked on it to check the band bio and as soon as I saw that Seaweed was an influence, I knew that I needed to check them out. There is definitely a 90's emo/indie sound going on here that reminds me of stuff like Garden Variety or early Jawbox... and yes, a bit of Seaweed. It is good, and it is the kind of record that I feel is really going to grow on me as time goes on. I mean, I like it right now, but I feel like in a few months I'm going to be loving it more and more.

I didn't want to wait too long and miss out on the colored vinyl option so I quickly made sure that I had my order in for this Spite House record. Shortly after placing my order, my friend Doug tipped me off that the black vinyl was actually the more limited pressing. Oh well, the coke bottle clear is a better look with the cover art. Limited to 200.