THE HOMELESS GOSPEL CHOIR

It’s not the first time The Spits have accidentally predicted the future. In a sense, the entire essence of the band was ahead of their time. One of their defining characteristics is the brevity of their songs—most falling between the one- and two-minute mark. They’ve been writing short, boppy songs since their formation in the early ’90s, back when the standard in popular music was three or four minutes at least.

Fast forward almost 30 years, and short songs have become the norm. Granted, many bands and artists are doing this because streaming services incentivize shorter songs with the way their royalties are paid out. But, regardless of the reason, Wood sees this as a positive.

“It’s like, duh! You don’t need a three-minute long song,” he says, laughing. “It loses its fun, it’s not fun after a minute fifty! I’d say it’s good that people are writing shorter songs. Because, the way I look at it is like, if you put a record on, you listen to it, you flip it over, side two, you listen to that, and then if you want to flip it over to listen to side one, because you haven’t gotten enough yet - then that’s great!" While The Spits never strayed away from short, catchy punk songs, their latest album is even more of a return to roots.

“We really want to go back and write good songs, and make it sound like it used to sound,” Wood says. “We used to use a fuckin’ analog four-track, and then dump that onto a friend in Seattle’s 24 track digital thing, and work from there. And a lot of the sounds you just can’t get in a studio. You have to use cheap shit, and that’s what we started doing.”

"The first couple records, we had what I called the Chickenbone Guitar,” he continues. “And it was an old no name ’60s Japanese guitar. And the top of the guitar where the nut is, by the headstock, it was busted out. So, we were eating fried chicken, and trying to jam, and I just stuck [in] a fuckin’ chicken leg bone, and with a butter knife, cut out some notches, and it actually worked great!”

To return to the sound of their early years, the band went back to the place where it all began: Michigan. The return to their home state put them in an environment where they could get into a headspace to write a record that sounded like the music they were putting out decades “WE USED TO USE A FUCKIN’ ANALOG FOUR-TRACK, AND THEN DUMP THAT ONTO A FRIEND IN SEATTLE’S 24 TRACK DIGITAL THING, AND WORK FROM THERE. AND A LOT OF THE SOUNDS YOU JUST CAN’T GET IN A STUDIO. YOU HAVE TO USE CHEAP SHIT, AND THAT’S WHAT WE STARTED DOING.”

ago, when they were just a bunch of punk skaters from rural Michigan.

“In order to return to a special feeling that you had before, you gotta go back to that [place],” Wood explains. Perhaps it is the scrappy nature of the band that has contributed to their longevity. Few bands in this scene last as long as The Spits, and it doesn’t seem like the party is going to end anytime soon. “It’s not really a job or a band, it’s more a way of life,” Wood says. “We’ve been doing the same thing for twenty something years. We never stopped. This new record is the first one out in eight years. We said, ‘let’s just go back to our roots and try to write some old classic songs.’ And that’s kind of what we did. We kept it lo-fi, and it sounds

great. I’m proud of it.” �� �� ��