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Artist
Spasmodique
12+ albums
post-punknew wavedutchrockJesters live list
about
Spasmodique was an underground rock band from Rotterdam, The Netherlands from 1981 to 2005. Spasmodique formed at the height of New Wave's popularity and existed somewhere near that genre'spost-punk fringes. They sang almost exclusively in English. Early demos reveal a sound not dissimilar to Joy Division, including prominent basslines, baritone vocals, dark lyrical themes and minimalist guitar. Later in their career, their music was sometimes described as Gothic rock. Their last album was more musically complex and had a hard rock edge, similar to the work of Billy Duffy. Their musical influences also included The Swans and The Sound. Spasmodique was formed in 1982 by singer/guitarist Mark Ritsema, guitarist Arjo Hijmans, bassist Martin Doctors van Leeuwen and drummer Reinier Rietveld (formerly of Quando Quango). They released a self-titled five-song ep in 1986. The same year, they recorded songs for an opera that were later released on their album ''North''. In 1987 Spasmodique released their full-length debut ''From the Cellar of Roses'' and toured with Umberto di Bosso e Compadres. The next year they released another album with three new studio tracks and five live tracks, ''Start to Believe/Someone's Out There to Get You''. In 1989 they finally debuted a single, "The Square", and released another full-length album, ''North''. By the end of the decade, the band had grown more popular internationally, with growing audiences in Germany and Austria. 1990 would see the
