Label: Frenchkiss
Producer: Brian McTernan
Release Year: 2001
Listen: Spotify / Apple Music
A more appropriate name for this band would be The Sea Monkeys, cuz every time I hear this album it reminds me of one of those little castles that you’d find in a goldfish bowl. Maybe it’s the underwater quality of the production, but I just see these guys miniaturized and rockin’ out at the bottom of a bowl of water. My weird illusions aside, these guys manage the blues tinged art school rock thing without a guitar–or an ounce of shame. The grooves are straight forward and crushing, although not really varying from track to track. They also love to mention the name of the band a lot (five titles actually have the word “ape” in them), leading me to believe that there’s not much going on in the lyrics department. I actually got this CD free from Frenchkiss when I ordered a couple Les Savy Fav albums from them, so to complain at all is pretty weak on my part. This is a great dose of spazzy art rock that is long on potential but a little less successful in its execution. The kitsch of wearing fatigues and speaking of mystical lands is always a draw for some, but it seems they actually put some thought into the music heading into their second LP, as it shows good progression from this debut.
MORE THE APES ALBUMS
