Why is that I always properly discover a band immediately after having a chance to see them? I’ve been aware of Fight Like Apes for a while, and even knew their reputation was good enough to wander to their stage at Hop Farm last week. Not knowing what to expect, I stayed for about a song and a half, thought “eh, s’alright” and wandered back out again. A week and a half later, and I have their album on continuous rotation. Such is life I suppose.

Fight Like Apes are an Irish band, and typing that it suddenly strikes me how few Irish bands I tend to know or like. What took me by surprise is how varied the album (which clocks in at only 35 minutes) manages to be. From the outset, it gives the impression of hard and fast rock, with unrelenting vocals spat out over the top. As one progresses through the album though, a slight tenderness starts to creep in. Nothing much, just the odd grounded emotional comment or observation. Of course, it’s not long before we’re back to the aggressive territory, but it adds a depth that you don’t entirely expect.

Those two extremes are demonstrated in the songs here. The video above is for Something Global, the first track on the first album. It leaps out with so much energy you wouldn’t how they can keep it up for the rest of the album. Lumpy Dough, below, is at the other end of the scale. A slowed down, electronic number that still manages to rise to one hell of a noisy climax. These two songs really shouldn’t well together at all, but they end up complimenting each other perfectly.

And The Mystery Of The Golden Medallion is out now on Model Citizen Records.

Related posts

• 22 Songs (1)