Welcome to Janky Fresh Friday- the busiest day of the week for artists and labels to drop newly released music. Check in every Friday for a fresh squeeze.
As part of Janky Smooth’s Janky Fresh Friday series, we’ve been comparing two albums that come out on the same day and seemingly have nothing in common- for the sole purpose of discovering the wealth of similarities between two disparate things.
related: Janky Fresh Friday – New Albums from Tame Impala and Militarie Gun
This week we mix things up a bit to examine two new albums with late-October 2025 record release parties in LA.
Spiritual Cramp’s free show sponsored by Marshall at Zebulon on 10/21 reminded us of what rock music should be all about; and Patriarchy’s upcoming record release party at The Lodge Room on 10/26 is about to be one of the creepiest and most gritty dance-parties you’ve ever been to, just in time for Halloween.
Author Danny Ryan gives his review of Spiritual Cramp’s RUDE, with photos by Taylor Wong from the Zebulon record release show. Author Rob Shepyer breaks down Patriarchy’s new album for us in preparation of their upcoming Lodge Room performance.
Spiritual Cramp: RUDE (released October 24, 2025): Blue Grape Music II
Spiritual Cramp is a band that has not only been on the Janky Smooth radar for nearly a decade now, but the radars of everybody in California who pays attention to independent punk and hardcore music. In reality; Spiritual Cramp should be the favorite current band of everybody who is a fan of rock or guitar music at all.
Their recent free record release party at Zebulon sponsored by Marshall does indicate that they are breaking into a wider audience than the confines of LA’s punk scene, and their newest record “RUDE” only confirms this even further. Even with this newfound attention from Marshall and from opening for Iggy Pop recently, the uniquely Spirit of ’77 Rude Boy aesthetic that Spiritual Cramp oozes has only been intensified more than ever on “RUDE”; and hopefully we can see some of this style bleed into today’s rock music as a whole.
related: Spiritual Cramp – Alive at the Regent Theater
I’m An Anarchist is one of the best openers for an album I’ve heard in a very, very long time; instantly throwing you straight into the experience and letting you know what sort of energy you’re in for with its Clash-esque guitar tones, radio announcer skits, and lighthearted rebellion with lyrics like “Everyone’s the same now, there are no rules. Marching down the streets with children protesting the schools”. This borderline-poppy brand of anarchy and nonconformity is what punk rock was founded on; edge for the sake of edge, and subversion through the youth. It’s spiritually political without being overtly political, which a lot of modern punk bands unfortunately fall into with tacky results. This sort of spiritual rebellious uprising is what truly inspires people and Spiritual Cramp obviously knows this based on their band name (ignoring the Christian Death song they’re referencing).
Even the terminology used on this first track: Anarchy, Oi, Rude Boy: These aren’t words you would ever hear in the hardcore scene. It finally feels that Spiritual Cramp has evolved past being the opening band that you see on a hardcore lineup after grinding within that status for the longest time now, being their own pioneers of bringing rocksteady ska-influenced punk back from the grave. Tracks like Automatic and Violence In The Supermarket (an obvious nod to The Clash’s Lost In The Supermarket) push the influences of first-and-second wave ska to their absolute limits. It’s been long believed that the punks lost ska music to dorky suburban kids in the 90’s, but Spiritual Cramp has the confidence and the swagger to potentially bring the genre back in the way it was always meant to be: dance music for delinquents.
related: Deafheaven at Lodge Room – A Perfect Marriage Of Time
One of my biggest criticisms of the modern hardcore scene is its abandonment of punk roots in favor of metalcore and emo influence. Spiritual Cramp completely rejects those current trends in every way, being completely unapologetic about their worship of bands like The Clash, The Ramones, X, and Buzzcocks. I don’t think I’m alone in missing the era of hardcore where these punk influences were more present, considering how many prominent figures of the modern hardcore scene were present at their Zebulon record release show. It’s almost like we all want hardcore punk to feel punk again, but Spiritual Cramp is the only current band with the balls to take us there.
Even with how “cool” the new Spiritual Cramp album feels with its rock n’ roll edge, the album is full of the vulnerability and depth seen from all of the pop-punk and emo bands that they’re so boldly standing on their own from. The track At My Funeral really stands out in how honest and exposed it is with lines like “At my funeral. Nobody came. Everybody knew. My shit was lame“. For the punk rockers that truly understand the self-destruction and isolation that came from the non-conformity of the Decline Of Western Civilization-era of the scene, lyrics like this hit the heart much harder than the overly poetic fluff we’re used to seeing from modern pop-punk bands. Being truly inspired is an efficient repellent to corniness, and there are very few bands as truly inspired as Spiritual Cramp.
Beyond the 1970’s punk influence, this album is a much more polished product than the rawness seen in their previous releases. This doesn’t make the experience any less punk rock, but reminiscent of early 00’s garage rock bands like Franz Ferdinand and The Strokes at moments; especially in the final track, People Don’t Change. It’s an absolutely beautiful finale to the whole experience, even incorporating horns to really amplify the intensity of the album’s close. Frontman Michael Bingham really belts the last line of its ending verse “My God I get carried away. We all make mistakes. And people can change. So why can’t I?” leaving the album on an almost haunting note that really sticks with you emotionally. While aesthetics are a major part of this experience, there’s much more to dissect here and Spiritual Cramp makes this profundity incredibly apparent throughout.
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If you’re a fan of punk rock, rock n’ roll, power-pop, ska, reggae, new wave, hardcore, pop punk, alternative, even just rock music at all; this album is a must-listen of 2025 for you. Spiritual Cramp is on a mission to save us all from the TikTok-ification of punk and rock music, bringing completely different influences to the table than we’re used to seeing in the modern alternative scene. This album is deeply inspired by late 70’s punk and ska, but it absolutely never feels like nostalgia bait. Rock music needs more bands like Spiritual Cramp to carve their own path beyond the trends that the algorithm has pushed on us, and hopefully this release inspires more artists to do so.
Patriarchy: Manual For Dying (released October 24, 2025): Notes From The Underground
Under our close watch since the project’s infancy, Patriarchy has been a Janky Smooth favorite for many years. When clubs opened after the pandemic for the very first time, the first post-COVID show I reviewed for Janky Smooth was Patriarchy at The Lash. The Lash has since dissolved, but Patriarchy is still going exceptionally strong. I remember at that show, the chemistry between singer Actually Huizenga and the drummer—known simply as Drummer, or to those in the know of all his contributions to the LA underground, AJ English—was something that made people scratch their heads. Were they dating, or was it all part of the show? Now, with their child aboard the Patriarchy bandwagon, the band hasn’t only inspired the world of post punk or, goth et al. with fresh ideas but also parenting.
The duo has done a lot of living in their few years as an active band, but now they give the world a Manual for Dying in the form of their new album, released today for the world to feast on.
related: First Show After The Great Reset – Patriarchy at The Lash’s Reopening Party
Patriarchy is just as much a visual project as a sonic one, so seeing how their image has evolved from their garish, baroque, sexploitation music videos to their raw, minimalist cinéma vérité is as crucial to this evolution as their movement toward dance music that still retains those sexy, dark, satirical undertones.
The album’s intro, “Boy on a Leash,” repeats a vibe and a mantra that represents a movement out of the coffers, crypts, and dungeons to the goth club. That same driving force and psychology are present throughout the album’s singles like “Pain is Power,” where electronica becomes a tool to recenter Patriarchy around Ashley in a way that allows her to explore new potential as a kind of goth star in ways they were previously only tiptoeing around.
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To me, this album represents a sonic, thematic, and spiritual maturation for the duo. Who knew having a child could do wonders for your Jungian shadow? Fully embracing their new role as parents without letting it compromise their artistic journey, Patriarchy has found a new purpose you can feel through the digital heartbeat that pulses from start to finish on Manual for Dying.
Music like this—so lively, thrilling, sensual, and casually meaningful—is only a manual for dying in the sense that you can’t help but live on the edge with this album as your soundtrack. As you push yourself to the limit, partying and dancing harder than you could have ever imagined, you’re bound to shed a few years off your life.
I like this new evolution of Patriarchy. I love that I can squint while watching her videos and swear I’m seeing glimpses of a pop star, or at least some kind of unholy subversion of one.
The album isn’t all a dose of speed and beat. There are many delicious moments of nuanced goth like “Coming Up,” which crawls through your speakers like the girl from The Grudge. That same nuance is present on “Bad Thing,” where the album slows down for the listener to think and feel in vampire time. These are the sort of tracks that take you to the blood rave, bathed in crimson light instead of black. That slow, creeping glitch continues with “Your Place,” where a touch of masculine energy enters the fold and deepens the meaning of the songs, the album, and their relationship. Please, Patriarchy, add more moments of male vocal to engage Actually in dramatic dialogue.
related: Photo Recap – Patriarchy at the Echoplex
The song “Die Like Everyone Else” is a spiritual and thematic touchstone for the album and the band. It sounds almost like some kind of Eurovision epic, but for the LA goth scene. I can imagine the impact this song could have live, with Patriarchy performing it and forcing everyone in the audience to confront their humanity. The heart is so still listening to this song that dancing almost feels like a dare.
related: Sextile At The Novo – The Most Important Band in Los Angeles?
Currently on tour with The Cult and about to celebrate their record release at The Lodge Room, Patriarchy steps into a brave new phase. Embraced by goth’s legacy artists and bleeding into the scenes and sounds they know while breaking into new frontiers, Manual for Dying has as much limitless potential as a soul freshly unbound from this mortal coil.
Want to live a little? Pick up Manual for Dying. You’ll see how getting close to that edge can make your days brighter, your nights darker, your art more meaningful, and your time on Earth better spent.
Don’t miss Patriarchy’s Record Release Show:
10/26: The Lodge Room
Spiritual Cramp review by Danny Ryan.
Photos by Taylor Wong
Patriarchy review by Rob Shepyer.
Photos by Albert Licano , Maggie St. Thomas , Lindsay Arth
