Spod

4/5
"These are the things your mother warned you about"

"...On the single "Letz Dance!" he manages to rhyme the title with "cream your pantz" before tipping his codpiece to Missy Elliott with the chorus "get your fuck on/get get your fuck on/c'mon". Electro of any stripe isn't worth the plastic it's distributed on unless there's rhythm and booty, and SPOD doesn't let the side down as he introduces David Bowie to the Sex Pistols over a mirror at a 70's nightclub. Aside from the fixxxation with extra letters and exxxclaimation points, SPOD's got everything you need for a large night - in or out. Joshua Gliddon" - Rolling Stone

Everyone needs some Spod in their lives, something out there and different, something that's fun, you can bop to, you can laugh at and laugh with, you can sing along to and you can crank up loud and cop some strange looks. Opening up with the current radio favourite 'Letz Dance!!!', if you can get through this song you are going to enjoy this album, if you can't then give yourself an uppercut, Spod is genius, and the proof is in the lyrics, 'Totally Rad!!' is a fave in that department it's also catchy as fuck, like just about everything else on this album. 'Devistator' puts the sampler/drum machine to work and you end up feeling like your lost stuck in a bad 80's computer game dodging dragons to get the gold, music to go on an adventure to. Then 'Makin' Party!!!' gives you the feeling of being lost in an Andrew WK album. You can't describe Spod in words, you need to experience it in person and this album is the perfect way to be introduced to the scorpion of sexxx himself. If you've got a sense of humour, an open taste in music and you just wanna get down, this is your soundtrack.
- bombshell.live.com.au

"SPOD, the most charismatic man in music, with the mysterious Krylon and A-Blade, are having more fun than any other act here today – bubble machines, whipped cream and bananas.
He says that he’s going to try to have sex with every one of us, and I think he might just mean it. An electro-rock nutcase, he is joined by The Kid and Andy Clockwise to finish with a full rock onslaught." - Redback Rock.com

Spod was fantastic. Simultaneously reminiscent of Peaches and Turbonegro’s Hank Von Helvete, the Sydney manchild whipped the crowd. Handing out plastic roses and taking photos with the crowd, Spod was a revelation. His two scantily clad dancers didn’t hurt either. Adelaide, next time Spod comes to town, don’t miss him.
- DB Magazine

"Somebody put Spod and Kamahl on at the same time. For me, the two highlights of the whole day were playing at the same time. One was until recently an unknown Sydney boy who at his first BDO was mobbed after his show and spent a good twenty minutes signing autographs..."
- http://www.inthemix.com.au

By James Bean
People misunderstand Spod‘s on-stage enigma. Set the scene: two dancers who look like they belong in a Bowie film clip, and his mix-meister in nuclear holocaust garb, arms crossed - citing one of his eclectic influences (in this case KLF) – Spod’s metaphorical journey into the soft underbelly of neo-punk begins. Is the nuclear-KLF guy a twisted reference to the situation in Iraq? This would perhaps explain the song Parkin Aeroplanez, and goes some way to addressing the War on Terror and it’s seemingly incomprehensible connection with Iraq.

His next song, a dedication to the recently deceased Warped, only further underscored the tyranny of digestibility; conducting modern social commentary through socially accessible mediums, ie. music. It was at this moment, my own salty tears almost wept empathetically with the solitary faux-blood tear rolling languidly down Spod’s stricken features. Tears of blood – is that another reference to terror, didn’t Saddam or someone else of the deck of cards say that? I had no choice but to buckle under the creative onslaught of his use of metaphor –skeleton gloves – are his hands painted on, is his activist gesture spineless, indeed is he exposing too much of himself in order to force our own personal inquiry? Heavy shit.

The moral torpor receded as he rollicked about stage, geeing up the Melbourne crowd, inviting two nubile novices on stage to sing Sweet Child ‘O Mine. This was his philanthropic interlude. Spod stood back, nurturing our local talent, coaxing out their very best, depicting his spousal dedication to us; the wedding suit yet another clever use of metaphor – he’s married to our local scene – so true.

Altruistic tendencies aside, he defies our expectations, tweaking the atmosphere, directing the lighting guy to rise up to the moment. Yes, he’s exhibiting shades of the prima donna he will one day become. Even the sampled applause didn’t seem out of place or unnecessarily narcissistic; his performance was stadium material. Later on he engages us in mid-song photo-ops, so on the pulse – even to the point of doing his own publicity. I kept wondering are we witnessing the birth of progressive neo-punk, or some mutant strain of irony-rock? I’ll leave that dilemma to the real critics.

The zenith of the show happened upon us without warning. Black Label Embassy and special guest Warped Cuckold joined Spod on-stage, together they proverbially lifted the roof off Ding Dong for a tantalizing few minutes, and the emasculated polar vortex of neo-punk couture and youthful nonchalance deliquesced, all of us transfixed in marvelous suspension. The following are not my own words, but they ring as true now as they did then, reminding me so much of Spod:

“For years people have been grasping for a new musical icon; someone or something they could grab hold of with both hands. They’ve been clutching at straws at the best of times… [Spod] is a beacon of passion and joy and a ray of iconic hope in a murky quagmire of shitty rock and humourless lyricism. Grab onto [him]; [he’s] all yours…all ours
- Inpress Magazine

“Listen to, it and you’ll want to have sex” Blunt Magazine 8/10

“Secks Party 4 Eva is a rush of sexxxual metal adrenalin that is never likely to be topped even at the height of the best orgasm you’ve ever had” Beat Magazine

“there are places on this record where a vulnerable mind will be swallowed whole, de-boned and digested” Inpress Magazine

“there is a genuine funkiness in the bump and grind that makes something like Nerdz into an anthem of solidarity” Drum Media Magazine - Various