In 2004, the group's cover version of the 1930s Lead Belly song "Black Betty" reached number one on the ARIA Singles Chart.

They have five top 20 albums: The Unfinished Spanish Galleon of Finley Lake (1995), Ivy and the Big Apples (1996), Grand Slam (1999), Tonight Alright (2004), and Greatest Hits (2005).

The group have won two ARIA Music Awards with the first in 1997 as 'Best Alternative Release' for Ivy and the Big Apples and the second in 2000 as 'Best Cover-Art' for their single "Glockenpop".

[2][3] All grew up in the small town of Finley in southern New South Wales where Kram and his second cousin Whitty jammed together as schoolboys.

(named after the 1982 Michael Apted telemovie, P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang) followed in January 1992, displaying the thrash-like hardcore punk of their early live gigs.

[2] In 1995, Spiderbait was signed to Polydor Records by Craig Kamber - who also worked with Powderfinger and Underground Lovers - and released its second album, The Unfinished Spanish Galleon of Finley Lake, in October.

[2] The album reached number 14 on the Australian charts,[13] with singles "Monty" (September) and "Jesus" receiving extensive airplay on radio station Triple J.

[2] The album title refers to a then-unfinished project by the Finley community,[2] an artificially-made lake included a replica sailing ship.

[4] At the ARIA Music Awards of 1996, the album received two nominations: 'Best Alternative Release', and 'Best Cover Art' for English and George Stajsic.

[15][16] Their third album, Ivy and the Big Apples, was issued in October 1996 and reached number 3,[13] and by 1997 had received 2× Platinum certification by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments of over 140,000 units in Australia.

[17] Their next single, "Buy Me a Pony", received extensive airplay on Triple J, resulting in listeners voting it as their favourite song in the Hottest 100 of 1996 – making Spiderbait the first Australian group to achieve this.

[2][13] It was featured in the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You during the scene where the character of Kat (played by Julia Stiles) is reading the novel The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.

[22] Also in 1998, Kram and Richie Lewis of Tumbleweed formed a side-project, Hot Rollers – so named as both member's mothers were hairdressers.

[4] Spiderbait recorded the Tonight Alright album in Weed, CA with engineers Josh Kiser and Richard Veltrop, producer Sylvia Massy (Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Tool, System of a Down, Skunk Anansie).

[4][9][26] The songs had been written and demoed at Whitty's home in North Melbourne with English and Kram cycling in from nearby suburbs.

[4][32] At the ARIA Music Awards of 2004, Kram performed as part of the super-group The Wrights, which also featured members of Powderfinger, The Living End, You Am I, Jet, Grinspoon, and Dallas Crane.

[40] In 2010, Magnapop's album Chase Park featured a cover of Spiderbait's song "Jesus" from The Unfinished Spanish Galleon of Finley Lake.

The band played a gig on the same day, for the opening night of the Jam Gallery, a new music venue in Bondi Junction.

[46] In December 2023, Spiderbait performed at Good Things, alongside other bands like Limp Bizkit, Devo, Fall Out Boy and more.

On 15 May 2024, Spiderbait announced that they would tour Australia from August to October of that year to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Black Betty, with opening acts like Polish Club, Adalita, Private Function, Abbe May and local bands.