Spazz - Crush Kill Destroy (Cover Artwork)

Spazz

Crush Kill Destroy (1999)

Slap a Ham


The final full-length release by this unholy trio from California. For those who have no idea, Spazz were the undisputed OG's of west coast powerviolence in the 1990's. They took the sound pioneered by bands like Crossed Out and No Comment and added a unique blend of self-referential humor to create a hilarious but brutal genre.

While most Powerviolence is an amlagamation of slow moshy-parts mixed with blastbeat insanity, Spazz's final studio album forgoes a lot of the slow parts and gets straight to the killing.

The LP opens with Max Ward throwing down a fast 1-2 1-2 beat which is brought to an immense crecendo of feedback and drums. The lyrics on this are split pretty evenly amongst the three members, each who have their own vocal style. Chris has a nice hardcore shout while Max contributes with furious screaming. Dan, the guitar player sounds like a cross between Cookie monster having an orgasm and Fozzy Bear from the muppets on a Long-island Bender.

The songs are about friends, record collectors, sparse political ramblings and outright emo destruction. Standout tracks are "Not Even Phased", "Hardcore Before Mark McCoy was Emo Semen" and the anthemic title track "Crush Kill Destroy."

Truly one of the best Hardcore releases from the Slap A Ham dynasty, and one of the best hardcore records to come out of the 20th century.

Here are some sample lyrics from "Campaign for Emo Destruction":

"dropping your mic to sing on the floor
that never was or will be hardcore
put on a show for little petty page
phony tears instead of rage
pretend you're sensitive so you get laid
you're a wolf in thrift clothing, they're your prey
spock can't get laid any other way"