Spiritual Cramp

San Francisco outfit Spiritual Cramp fuse volatile strains of hardcore punk, ska, reggae, post-punk pop, and mod textures into fiercely committed music. Frontman and chief songwriter Michael Bingham guides the project. Their first recordings surfaced on the 2017 EP Mass Hysteria, proving that force need not depend on speed-and-volume formulas. The 2018 album Television came next, followed by the self-titled 2023 LP, which brought tighter execution and more polished studio work.

The band took its name from a Christian Death song. Bingham, raised in the Pacific Northwest, formed the group after discovering Madness as a teenager; the ska act opened the door to punk and related forms, and he pursued recordings by any method available, including occasional shoplifting from local discount shops. He moved to San Francisco in 2011 and joined the punk band No Sir. In 2012 he appeared on a single by Creative Adult, with Mike Fenton on bass. Bingham and Fenton began writing together; although Bingham spent a brief period in Profile, the partnership with Fenton endured. Spiritual Cramp officially began in 2017, with Bingham and Fenton creating all new material and completing the lineup with guitarists Jacob Breeze and Stewart Kuhlo, dancer and percussionist Max Wickham, and drummer Blaine Patrick.

Producer and engineer Grace Coleman assisted on the four-song 7-inch Mass Hysteria, issued before the close of 2017. Another single and the 18-track album Television followed in 2018 on the Canadian label Deranged Records, featuring tongue-in-cheek covers of Sex Pistols and Billy Bragg songs alongside originals. Strong reviews led to steady touring, including shows with Viagra Boys and Militarie Gun, and a growing Bay Area audience. The four-song EP Here Comes More Bad News appeared in 2021. Shortly afterward the band revised its roster: Nate Punty replaced Jacob Breeze on guitar, Julian Smith took over drums from Blaine Patrick, and Jose Luna assumed percussion and keyboard duties from Max Wickham.

In 2023 Spiritual Cramp tracked their second album at Different Fur Studio in San Francisco. Grace Coleman, Michael Bingham, and Mike Fenton produced alongside Carlos De La Garza, whose credits include Paramore, Bad Religion, Fitz and the Tantrums, and M83. Blue Grape Records released the finished album Spiritual Cramp in November 2023.