SPY 'Habitual Offender' CD (EP)

To Live A Lie ‎– TLAL228

"It can’t be easy for a hardcore punk band to make a name for itself without playing any shows, but that’s why Spy did last year. Spy, from the Bay Area, came together last year, during the pandemic, and they released the disgustingly ripshit debut EP Service Weapon. The record evoked the sort of visceral, euphoric rage that’s such an elemental part of this music, and it became a word-of-mouth underground sensation. Since then, Spy have started playing shows, and now they’ve released a second EP that’s just as raw and grimy as the first.
Spy recorded the new EP Habitual Offender with Gulch/Sunami/World Peace collaborator Charles Toshio, and they’ve tapped into the same sort of fast, lurching grind as they brought to Service Weapon. Habitual Offender cranks through six songs in 10 minutes, and it’ll leave you feeling beaten-down and exhilarated."
-STEREOGUM

"Still replete with the vicious smash and grab of the previous tracks, Spy have returned bolstered with even sharper fangs. “Afraid of Eveything” is ushered in on their now trademark opening stomp, matching feedback and low-slung bass with a bilious bark. Shortly after their blazing hardcore punk beats the listener into submission, they reprise the mid-pace open."
-NOECHO.NET

"Bay Area hardcore band Spy will follow their buzzed-about 2020 debut EP Service Weapon with another new EP, Habitual Offender, on October 1 via To Live A Lie Records (pre-order). The EP was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Charles Toshio (Sunami, Gulch, World Peace), and it features six songs in 10 minutes with an overtly political theme."
-BROOKLYN VEGAN

"Now on Habitual Offender, Spy have doubled down on their vicious sound, tightening the screws even further with their most musically and lyrically cutting songs yet. “I had a certain set of principles in mind,” Pawlak explains. “The music has to be memorable and interesting: no filler, never a second wasted, never anything that’s just there to lengthen a song or maintain a certain structure. Every bit of feedback, every vocal part, every little variation on the riff needs to matter.” That stringent attention to detail is immediately apparent on the EP. Recorded, mixed, and mastered by engineer Charles Toshio (Sunami, Gulch, World Peace) at Panda Studios, the six songs clock in at just 10 minutes, yet make a lasting mark."
-IDIOTEQ

"SPY are yet another band roaring out of the blossoming Californian hardcore scene. Keeping their ideals simple and deep rooted in punk. They’re making fast paced aggressive hardcore that is impossible to ignore. With their debut EP (Service Weapon) and their most recent EP (Habitual Offender) they are proving that they deserve the hype."
-DSCVRD.