Spiderbait were a rock outfit out of Australia.  Founded in 1991, they came together right as grunge was starting to explode onto the world scene.  While I certainly wouldn’t call their sound, at least from the period of P’Tang Yang Kipper Bang-Uh (which I have seen credited with release in either 1991 or 1992), as grunge, I can hear a bit of an influence in the guitar work, though more along the lines of Gruntruck than Nirvana.  There’s even a bit of a K Records style feel in the female vocal sections to the song “Footy”.

P’Tang Yang Kipper Bang-Uh and the “Circle K” / “Constapation” 7″ are Spiderbait’s earliest releases, both pre-dating their LP debut ShaShaVaGlava that came out in 1993.  I find their sound pretty damn heavy, bordering on metal at times, especially on tracks like “Another Brick in the Head” which is heavy as hell and has some pretty raging guitar work.  Hell, “Invisible Man” is a sort of combo thrash/hardcore number.  At the same time, though, Spiderbait don’t take themselves too seriously.  They’ve got songs about Aussie football (“Footy”) and drinking beer (“Old Man Sam”), plus a track called “Fucken Ace.”

Overall a cool little 10″, and one good enough to ensure I keep Spiderbait in the back of my mind for future digging sessions.