SPIKE F*CK Signs to Sacred Bones, to Release Debut Album evidence
The new single ALL BY MYSELF arrives alongside its accompanying music video.
SPIKE F*CK has signed to Sacred Bones Records and announced a debut album titled evidence. The announcement arrives alongside the release of a new single and video, ALL BY MYSELF.
SPIKE F*CK Signs to Sacred Bones Records – Announces Debut Album evidence, Coming October 2. Debuts 'ALL BY MYSELF' Single/Video.
photo by Dylan Marriott
For ten years Spike F*ck has existed more as a messy myth than an artist; sporadic works forever poised on the precipice of triumph, rumours of death or insanity and so on. His Smackwave EP (Partisan), now a decade old and certified cult classic was aptly censored by media outlets. The release addressed themes as literal as the title suggests; drug use, gender identity, Catholicism and existentialism.
Soon after, Spike was swept up in the whirlwind of unexpected success, going from underground warehouse parties and impromptu performances on Melbourne trams to catching the eye of Rick Owens, draped in high fashion and editorial photoshoots accompanied by interviews in which he gave unrelenting and uncensored details of his life. On the precipice of breakthrough, Spike disappeared. It had all happened in a flash, he was gone; and it seemed as if the artist witnessed by others was merely a relic of that time period, or possibly a figment of their imagination. Bootleg uploads and comments on old YouTube videos discussed possibilities that seemed wild but believable, given Spike's nature, fueling rumours of monastic solitude, relapse, or reinvention. Only the most sincere kept the myth alive. Their recent return to performance showcased that Spike had been thoroughly consecrated in underground memory with three sold out LA shows and two sold out nights in NYC.
Luckily, the devotion to his music persevered, somewhat bolstered by his inconsistency and inaccessibility. This inexplicable goodwill towards his artistry is perhaps partly due to Spike's timeless, pained and confessional lyricism, though more pointedly, the fragility of a life mired in addiction. His being or works does not question the virtue of life, but simply addresses the numb, pragmatic and far more immediate matter of surviving another day, an almost ineffable sentiment only justified by his distinct, poetic audaciousness.
Today Spike F*ck returns. He's signed with Sacred Bones Records and has announced his long anticipated debut album evidence, due October 2. The album is a brazen proof of life statement. Convicted by the outlandish idea of evidencing a 'you had to be there' mentality, the record honors the presence in body, a record to be felt, never to be rationalized. evidence isn't forthcoming in providing explanations of Spike's absence. It isn't a tell-all collection of songs about obsession, guilt, nor is it a document of the subsequent transformation, or enlightenment. Spike's prior fixations on the questions of man or woman, drug addict or ascetic, trickster or rockstar, have driven an unmitigated pursuit of knowing a 'true self'. This pursuit is no longer his chief concern, nor is he plagued by over conceptualization of who he is but simply, when he is. For this is Spike F*ck, and this is evidence.
Lead single 'ALL BY MYSELF' is an expert fusion of new wave, glam and soul with a vocal performance that oscillates between being blasé, vulnerable and manic. With its feelgood, family-friendly punk doo-wop production, Spike is misleading on if his joy comes from the pride in solitude, or from loneliness and a 'give me everything' mentality in the act of shooting heroin. Of 'ALL BY MYSELF' and its video, Spike tells –
'If someone asks: what does it mean? We've done the job.
As society has abandoned mythologies, we must create our own… that sounds trite and I'm not quite sure how to defend that statement really. We're not existentialists. In any case, we also live in a completely schizophrenic society in this sense, so the idea to create a story of a war hero/criminal undergoing an absurdist spiritual transformation seemed almost obligatory. Purgatorial musings, heaven and hell, redemption, fantasy, a mushroom that talks so on and so forth.
People understand truth through analogy, moreover, parables. We sought to create something about redemption, forgiveness, faith, hope and charity that is available to whomever seeks it. I may not be the most reliable narrator, I admit that freely, yet the fantasy of it all is healthy. So is a dose of whimsy or even a small dash of grand delusion.
So this video, along with the entire record, is a series of clues, a collection of pieces of evidence… Hopefully this video raises more questions than it answers.'
While plans had been in motion to release his now-shelved, 'original' debut record, Pure O, Spike was gripped by an insatiable urge to complete and present evidence. Written and recorded in 3 months alongside producer Adam Hyde (Keli Holiday), the record is informed by the realization he could not think his way into a state of emotion, only graduate into it; a process outside his control. There was a desire to evidence the mix of frustration, confusion and resentment; all too familiar feelings Spike had tried in vain to repress.
As Spike says, 'this record is carnal and confident. I wanted to approach songwriting in the same way a director shooting a slasher film does. Get to the point and make people feel it all. I want this record to cut like a sharp knife'. Citing Pere Ubu, New York Dolls, The Temptations and Bettye Swan as key influences, and inspired by the banned 1971 manual, The Anarchist Cookbook, Spike sought to create something unsettling and perplexing, yet simple. It's a rush to listen to, as if tagging along on a particularly wild night out. At once it is fun and memorable, but also truly life-altering as if you hit a pedestrian in your car and fled the scene, left to grapple with the thrill, guilt and fear of being caught.
evidence is an album that lives outside the limits of discourse; its purpose is eponymous and self-evident. It is what it is, and is subject to interpretation. There is no point in interrogating attachments, virtue or value. The only rightful way to live is to be.
evidence artwork
evidence Tracklist:
1. CAN'T GET IT UP
2. HAD YOUR WAY
3. SWEET RELEASE
4. BORED TO DEATH
5. ALL BY MYSELF
6. GETTING SOBER
7. BLUE LIGHT
8. HATE ME
Spike F*ck Live Dates:
Oct 02: Sydney, AU - Oxford Art Factory
Oct 03: Brisbane, AU - Crowbar
Oct 04: Wollongong, AU - Yours & Owls Festival
Oct 09: Perth, AU - Wyola Club
Oct 10: Adelaide, AU - Jive
Oct 18: Melbourne, AU - Thornbury Theatre
Oct 23: Rotterdam, NL - Left of the DIal
Oct 24: Rotterdam, NL - Left of the DIal
Oct 27: Bruges, BE - Cactus Club
Oct 29: Bristol, UK - The Croft
Oct 30: Sheffield, UK - Hallamshire Hotel
Oct 31: Newcastle, UK - Zerox
Nov 01: Glasgow, UK - The Hug & Pint
Nov 03: Manchester, UK - The Abbey
Nov 04: Leeds, UK - Oporto
Nov 06: London, UK - The Dome
Nov 07: Athens, GR - Illion Plus
Nov 08: Thessaloniki, GR - Eightball Club
Nov 10: Skopje, MK - Cafe Kotur
Nov 11: Zagreb, HR - Molotow Industrial Bar
Nov 12: Munich, DE - Mills
Nov 15: Berlin, DE - Urban Spree
Nov 16: Hamburg, DE - Molotow Top Ten Bar
Nov 17: Krakow, PL - Klub RE
Nov 18: Ostrava, CZ - Barrak Club
Nov 20: Bologna, IT - Freakout Club
Nov 24: Dublin, IL - Whelan's
Nov 27: Paris, FR - Le Hasard Ludique
Nov 29: Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso (Upstairs)
Photo Credit: Dylan Marriott | hi res
Photo Credit: Dylan Marriott | hi res
