I landed on Spinäl Session #9 today and it was the kind of algorithm detour that actually pays off. The clip is from October 2025, shot in Cape Town, and it leans into that black-and-white look that forces you to focus on what matters. Live music. No distractions. No “colour of the sauce that only the band can see”.
Cistamatic are a trio. Gabbi Le Roux on guitar and vocals, Ethan Pelser on bass, James Turner on drums. They kick off with “Gutter” and Le Roux’s performance pulls you back to the 90s, when grunge sat right at the centre of everything. This is a modern version though. Tighter. Sharper. Properly shaped.
She’s genuinely strong as the band’s leader. And even without a second guitar, nothing feels missing. When the noisy solos hit, Pelser’s bass is right behind them with thick, blown-out lines that lift the whole thing and keep that groove in charge. Le Roux repeats “I want you so bad” over and over, and that’s basically what I’m thinking about this band too.
“Le Roux repeats ‘I want you so bad’ over and over, and that’s basically what I’m thinking about this band too.”
Next is “Cop Car”, also taken from Fear Is the Weapon, the band’s latest full-length, released in summer 2025 via Goblin City. Here you get more of a punk rock vein and the pace shifts up. There’s a build that brings to mind Nirvana’s “Aneurysm”, then Cistamatic drag it into darker, more aggressive territory while keeping it melodic. It stays catchy, but it hits harder.
“Forgiveness Is a Dove”, which closes the album, almost pushes the set into an acoustic headspace, even with the amps on. With Nirvana already in the room, I can picture Le Roux singing “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” in that Kurt Cobain way. Then, at the end, she lets go completely and screams “forgiveness is a dove” with full emotion and full throat. It’s a band that knows how to compose, and you can hear that they know each other well. Turner’s drum sound helps a lot here too. It’s defined, it’s aggressive, and it gives the whole performance extra weight.
Then comes “Invisible Beast”. Same positives, but with a bit more bite. There are growls mixed into the vocals, and the melodic parts get split with Pelser’s backing lines in a way that gives you those proper goosebump moments. Still, what sticks is the lyric and the urgency in the delivery. It feels like the words have to come out right now.
The film has the Luvbuzz Studios signature, and it’s worth giving credit to the audio mix engineers and the mastering engineer too. The job is excellent, and it captures the band in a way that feels true to what they’re doing.
To watch other Spinäl Sessions performances, head to the Spinäl Täp Bar YouTube channel. For more on Cistamatic, follow the band on Instagram and stream Fear Is the Weapon on Spotify.
