“I think that standing up for yourself and fighting the good fight is the most ladylike you could possibly be … It’s ladylike to have a fuck ton of anger in you,” Ava Schrobilgen, vocalist and guitarist of the Austin, Texas-based rock outfit Die Spitz, asserts. This ethos—one which combines feminine rage with non-conformity—couldn’t ring truer for the four-piece grungy punk metal group.
Since their 2022 formation, Die Spitz have made a name for themselves as one of hard rock’s most enigmatic and ferocious up-and-coming acts through their high-energy live shows and distinct musicality. Having released two EPs since their formation—including 2022’s Revenge of Evangeline and 2023’s Teeth— the band is now celebrating the upcoming release of their debut full-length album, Something to Consume, out Sept 12 through Third Man Records.
With the release of their inaugural full-length record, it seems this is only the beginning for Die Spitz. This September, the group will support Viagra Boys on a select number of tour dates, and they will embark on an additional headlining run of shows throughout October and November to promote the new album. Combining a multitude of influences, ranging from Black Sabbath to Nirvana to PJ Harvey and more, Die Spitz maintain an artistry that is as diverse as it is enthralling.
When it comes to the vast array of sounds on the record, the band credits their friendship as the driving force behind their great collaboration. Frequently trading off with one another when it comes to vocal or instrumental contributions, the result is an eclectic, yet cohesive, musical landscape.
“I think getting influence from songs of the past or bands now is really cool, but I think we’re able to make a twist on it that makes it unique to Die Spitz,” says guitarist Ellie Livingston.
Schrobilgen adds, “We’re also very collaborative whenever we write our music. Everybody writes their own part on the instrument that they’re playing…I think the reason why it works is because we all collaborate on it, so it still has our sound at the end of the day.”
Although Die Spitz only formed a few years ago, the friendship among the band members goes way back. Schrobilgen and Livingston met when they were in preschool, and later became friends with bassist Kate Halter in middle school. When the band officially took shape, drummer Chloe De St. Aubin came along for the ride. With the making of Something to Consume, their close-knit bond with one another allowed for no hesitation when it came to the recording process. (And, they say, a bottle of sake helped, too.)
“I also don’t work as well with other people as I do with these three people,” Schrobilgen says. “It’s very easy to collaborate with them. I’ve never liked group projects before in school; it’s like a personal hell. We’re all best friends, so it’s super easy to communicate with each other. We had a talk before recording that every idea is going to get heard. You can say that something isn’t working and we won’t get offended, for the sake of the album.”
With such openness to anything and everything brought to the table, as well as the encouragement of producer Will Yip, Something to Consume became an album that refuses to be contained. Whether it’s the heavy rage of “Throw Yourself to The Sword” or the psychedelia of “a strange moon/selenophilia,” Die Spitz exhibit a musicality that expands beyond the boundaries of rock music. While the record continues to build upon the hardcore-meets-grunge sounds of Teeth, Something to Consume delivers something darker and profound.
“This album is limitless compared to Teeth,” De St. Aubin says. “Which, I love Teeth, but I think it’s definitely contained in some ways. We were also, like, 19 when we recorded Teeth… I was angry then. With this album, I feel like I had felt, in some ways, deeper emotions, and I’m really glad the more complex emotions that I feel like I’m feeling as I entered into adulthood got cast onto this current album.”
Through their poetically dark lyrical content and brutal compositions, Die Spitz use their artistry to maintain a politically active voice. Decorating their activism with the shimmer of female rage, the band has always explored topical themes in their art, and continues to do so with Something to Consume as they express a desperate desire for a better world around them.
“I wish that art didn’t have to be political,” Schrobilgen says. “I wish that the rights over my body weren’t political. I wish that my right to get married to another woman wasn’t political. But it is. Everything is political. Nobody wants it to be that way … But it is, and right now it is more than it has been in quite a while. When we started the band, we did not want to be political because we wanted our shows to be a space where people could just come and forget about things for a little bit. But that’s just not a choice anymore.”
De St. Aubin adds, “When you live in America and things are going on and it doesn’t even get mentioned, you have to be looking away. It’s a shit show. It is just impossible not to talk about. And if it doesn’t get brought up in any way, shape, or form ever, then you are actively choosing, you know?”
As they write songs about oppressive forces and refusing to conform to the patriarchy’s control, Die Spitz embody a youthful sense of rebellion. As an all-female rock group in a male-dominated industry, frequent misogyny is known by the band all too well.
“You’re going to have to prove yourself ten times more,” Livingston says. “There will be shows, especially as openers, when we’ll come on the stage and the sound person scoffs and laughs. Then we play the show and they’re like, ‘Oh, it’s so good!’ It definitely sucks. There’s even been times I wanted to quit, to be honest, from the amount of disgusting, gross men that will come to our shows and try to touch you or something. But I’m not going to. I’m going to fucking stay here, so all those young girls that want to do this and want to be a part of this are going to see us and be like, ‘Fuck, I can do that.’”
Schrobilgen adds, “I feel like growing up as a female, you’re taught to be quiet and super overly polite and let people kick you around because it’s ladylike. But then you grow up and you realize that you’re only told that so that you’re complacent with whatever men do, and you realize that no woman who has gotten anywhere is like that.”
Through their music, as well as songs from Something to Consume such as “RIDING WITH MY GIRLS,” Die Spitz explore and celebrate dark, visceral femininity. However, despite their passion for inspiring other young women in the rock scene, the band is defined by much more than their gender alone.
“In the beginning, that was not the goal,” Halter says. “We just wanted to be friends. We just happened to be girls. But being in this space and having your existence as a girl band be political and being called a girl band all the time, it turned a page where we were like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to be that for young girls.’”
“But we definitely don’t think that fucking ‘girl band’ is a genre or that it’s the only thing that makes us important as a band or whatnot,” Livingston says. “It’s like, no, we came here just to make music. We just happen to be all females. You’re making it political.”
With Something to Consume, Die Spitz deliver a body of work that is as impactful as it is unforgettable. Through screaming vocals, ethereal riffs, and poetic songwriting, the punk quartet conveys a ferocious balance of hardcore punk, grunge, psych rock, and classic metal. Refusing to be contained by any label, Die Spitz grab listeners by the throat through their mysterious and primal artistic fury. While the album maintains a hauntingly cinematic energy, similar to Pandora’s Box, a fiery beacon of hope is the throughline of Something to Consume.
“I want it to be people’s new no skip album,” Halter says. “A lot of my no skip albums are Black Sabbath albums that have instrumental interludes. And I think it is kind of timeless.”
“I hope that people are inspired to get with their friends and do something fun and see where it takes them,” Schrobilgen concludes. “Because that’s what this band is. Fun.”
Something to Consume is out today and you can order it from Third Man Records. Follow Die Spitz on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for future updates.
Photos by Ivy Owens
