Born in the back alleys and underground haunts of Montreal, Spleen slashes through the static with a lineup pulled from Canada’s fiercest musical corners: punk agitators Béton Armé and Puffer, black metal conjurers Conifère and Vespéral. Their collective name, a nod to Baudelaire’s Paris Spleen, signals an affinity for the disillusioned and the decadent, the beauty buried in decay.
The new demo collection from Spleen hits like a Molotov cocktail lobbed from a Montreal squat, igniting everything in its path with a snarling, snot-nosed fury that owes as much to The Damned and Dead Kennedys as it does to the paisley-soaked freakouts of The Dream Syndicate. It’s punk with a side of psychedelia, like Jello Biafra and Dave Vanian jamming in a dingy club while someone drops acid in the back. The guitars slash and burn, basslines lurch like a drunk on cobblestones, and the drums? Relentless.
There’s something unhinged here, a fever-dream mix of classic sneer and mind-melting paranoia, where surf twang bleeds into post-punk. Vocals veer between theatrical wails and spit-in-your-face snarls, riding atop a whirlwind of fuzzed-out riffs and breakneck rhythms. Spleen isn’t here to make friends…they’re here to shake your bones and leave your brain buzzing in overdrive…and possibly scrambling for a French dictionary.
Their first cassette, released through Roachleg Records in 2023, delivered five cuts of frigid, razor-edged fury, drenched in a relentless, spectral unease. Avant! Records pressed both of Spleen’s cult-favourite EPs onto one 12” vinyl compilation, one demo per side, with new sci-fi-influenced artwork by Spleen members Dan and Mathias.
Listen to Rien Ne T’empêchera below:
Listen to SPLEEN – Demos at the link below and purchase the album below. The LP comes out March 28 on black vinyl (limited to 500) via Avant! Records. Pre-order the record here and here.
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