2 months ago 08th Sep 11:33
In the 1973 sci-fi flick ‘Battle For The Planet Of The Apes’, simian leader Caesar beseeches his army of gorilla fighters: “Now, Fight Like Apes!” Fast forward thirty-three years to a Sunday afternoon in 2006.
Slouched on a couch in Dublin, watching the film, taped off the telly, four young band members in search of the perfect group name have an epiphany (or should that be an Ape-iphany?). Amid the comfortable rubble of VHS tapes, old Pavement albums, malfunctioning Roland samplers and last night’s kebab leftovers, Fight Like Apes are born!
Light years away from the stereotypical worthy, workmanlike Irish rock of yore, and eschewing the everyman singer-songwriter sensibilities also long associated with their native land, Fight Like Apes combine the Synth with the Sword in a heroic conflagration of loutish vocals, brutal bass and digital distortion, with nary a six string razor in sight.
Fight Like Apes are: MayKay - vocals, keyboards, Pockets – (so named for his habit of pocketing his cohorts’ cigarette lighters) - keyboards, backing vocals, Tom - bass, backing vocals, Adrian - drums,
In 2008 Fight Like Apes traveled to Seattle, home of CNN, Starbucks and Tom Sellick, to make a long playing record with a long title, which in short can only be described as “ace”. More of this later. Let’s go back to the future....
Fight Like Apes formed in 2006 from the remnants of various 'crap bands', with the avowed intention to scare audiences with “poppy songs played so obnoxiously that everybody leaves”. Early live experiments in sonic intimidation were successful, and then something remarkable happened, audiences first stopped leaving and then started coming to their gigs.
Surprised, bewildered, but nonetheless encouraged, Fight Like Apes released their first EP in Ireland in 2007 on Dublin independent label Fifa Records. Winningly entitled – 'How Am I Supposed To Kill You If You Have All The Guns' – the four-tracks introduced the trademark ape-scape of porcupine-pop tunes with striking non-linear lyrics, powered along by analog synths, b-movie samples, monstrous bass and propulsive drumming. The EP spawned ‘Jake Summers’ (a fan letter to 90’s teen-drama 'California Dreams' and its star Corey Feldman), which was picked up by Fierce Panda offshoot Cool For Cats for a limited UK 7” single release.
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