New York City’s St. Divine released “Spit” on January 16th, the lead single from their debut LP The Devil That You Know, dropping March 20th. The band formed in 2024 when Will Croxton and Judy Ann Nock met as backup singers for Ivan Julian (founding member of Richard Hell & the Voidoids) at City Winery in December 2022. Croxton co-authored the title track from Julian’s latest album, Swing Your Lanterns, for which Nock provided backing vocals. They started recording as St. Divine with bassist Jesse Barnes and guitarist Philip Yanos. Since then, they’ve gotten over 150 independent and college radio spins, including on NPR’s Sound Opinions.
“Spit” is an aggressive, riotous track marked by St. Divine’s hallmark rapid-fire dual vocals, dealing with anger and frustration that fit both relationships and society at large. The garage punk opener demands escape through vices (“I need a drink, I need a smoke”) followed by incredulity (“need you to tell me this is not a joke”). The sound is gnarly and rude on purpose. Its aggression is punctuated by powerful percussion and descending bass lines that lead to a climactic final alarm, residing somewhere between command and catharsis. If you don’t like the taste in your mouth, St. Divine encourages you to spit it out.
Will Croxton is a prolific songwriter, producer, and audio engineer who co-owns SuperGiraffeSound in Brooklyn. His past projects include D.T. & the Shakes, Idle, DriverX, and Them Sinners. Nock is an international best-selling author known for her Modern Witchcraft series with Simon & Schuster and plays in Psych-O-Positive. The Devil That You Know features 12 genre-jumping songs from punk to Americana. So “Spit” is just a fragment that doesn’t reflect the whole sonic image of the album, but it surely stands out on its own.
