11.19.25 - Die Spitz at the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia, PA Review

On Wednesday, November 19, 2025, the band Die Spitz set up in the 600-cap basement of the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia for a sold-out show. The pit was a healthy mix of young Philly queers, goths, casual neighborhood show-goers, and old men rock heads (almost all of which were proudly repping Die Spitz merch). The young four-piece punk-rock band from Austin, Texas, are currently on a stretch of headlining shows following the release of their first full length album, Something To Consume. 

Since debuting as a band in 2022, their time on the road has been nothing short of impressive. A friend of mine who is also from Texas first put me onto Die Spitz after hearing about them through the usual friend-of-a-friend circles of twenty-something girls in the state’s metro areas. They were just some girls who started a mosh-heavy hard rock band for the fun of it (or, in their own words, “It was a joke that went too far”). However, in just a couple of years, Die Spitz has made quite an entrance into the rock genre, opening for massive and iconic bands like Sleater-Kinney, Viagra Boys, Amyl & The Sniffers, and The Strokes. They played at Bonnaroo and The Governors Ball this past summer and are set to play Coachella in 2026.

I, personally, am very ready for the world to recognize the power of a fresh, young, theatrical, all-women rock band. Die Spitz has personality, presence, and the addicting grand sound to match. I yearn for cool light production, background visuals, and screens to follow the on-stage antics of these four performers, known individually as Ava,

Kate, Ellie, and Chloe. It helps that they already have an iconic look to them, especially the front-woman Ellie, who rocks big bouncy Chappell Roan-esque red hair, and guitarist Ava, who has the most perfect casual shaggy lesbian wolf cut. 

A set chock-full of stage dives, song-to-song swapping of instruments and lead vocals, yielding swords, frog hats, and overall pure, sweaty, emotional rock music, Die Spitz’ small show at First Unitarian Church gave Philadelphia a taste of what they could become… but just a taste. After all, they are a punk-rock band, so playing at one of Philadelphia’s most famous underground venues took the music right back to its roots. 

So, the show itself – Die Spitz had such a perfectly timed, engaging execution of traditional mosh crowd work throughout their hour-long set.

Shortly after taking the stage about two songs in, front-woman Ellie jumps into the pit for a guitar solo. While I could not see this epicness first hand, my eyes were drawn to (and equally as impressed with) the person in charge of handling the guitar’s amp cord from the stage. They did their job like a master puppeteer to keep it from getting tangled or too tight. And at a moment’s notice! At one point bassist Kate decided to crowdsurf alongside Ellie. From band members joining the pit not even 15 minutes into the set, to surfing multiple people at once, to mosh directions coming from the stage, to the climbing onto any and all amp speakers, the antics kept the crowd lively and immersed throughout the entire set.

As advertised, Die Spitz was hardcore. But not so much that any casual alternative rock fan would be turned away. If anything, a band like this is exactly what is needed to encourage a new wave of punk rock enjoyment and ideology, especially for young women. Ellie said it herself before the encore song “RIDING WITH MY GIRLS”, chanting “Girls to the motherfuckin' front!”. 

This energy of an intensely-emotional-yet-freeing sense of womanhood is in the very etching of their musical core. They began the show with “I hate when GIRLS die”, which was a perfect, powerful beginning track. A deep, droning, steady rock sound with hot guttural vocals that hooked the crowd and let everyone know what they were about to feast on. Die Spitz’ music has all the ingredients for a modern punk rock band. You have the volume size, for one, made up of precise instrumental fuckery and screaming vocalists who channel their anger from within. The drums, predominantly played by Chloe, were a standout to me almost immediately with the ironic post-modern anthem “Red40”. Even far away from the mosh zone, people all around bounced involuntarily, even if they had a shy abandon. The satisfying guitar solos grabbed your attention back just when it was about to wander off. And, I can’t stress it enough, the pure stage-commanding power coming from Ellie. “Go Get Dressed” and “Evangeline” had the crowd growing a few inches taller with people maneuvering for a mere glimpse of her finale explosion.

Apart from performance levels, I was very pleasantly musically surprised. I anticipated the fast-paced metallic hardcore sounds to be overstimulating and ultimately lose me and my taste for danceable rhythm and melody. This was not ever the case. The instrumentals varied healthily throughout songs and sections. Their influence presents itself from grunge, garage-rock, to even shoegaze! Yes! Intricate guitar layers and a hint of a synthy pedal building up to satisfying drum crashes and powerful vocals had me thinking… I should be dancing to this angry girl music every night in my room as some sort of emotional energetic release.

Die Spitz put on a powerful, energetic show that was addictingly entertaining. There was an exhausted thrill from the crowd as everyone scattered from the Church basement. The sense of a deep release coupled with awe-struck excitement that you just witnessed one of the most promising and disruptive new bands of today. Here and now, you are witnessing four extremely talented young women rise as a musical entity in the world of rock and roll, with a refreshing sense of humor, worldly perspective, that are wide-eyed and hungry to play. I think Die Spitz is at the perfect lightning-in-a-bottle moment of a music career that could shake things up for alternative rock.

Written by Alex Nikas