7/10/2009 Apes of Wrath and the Bloody Hollies at Bar Pink
Even though any writing about San Diego’s Apes of Wrath is prime real estate for an endless stream of easy puns and monkey references, I shall refrain from dabbling in such endeveaours. I’m not really a fan of humor per se, as I find it to be mainly the language of the cretin and the philistine. So let’s get on with my brief recollections of the Apes of Wrath circus, which made a recent stop at North Park’s Bar Pink. (The suffocating humorlessness and borderline non-joke of the previous sentence is my way of demonstrating the worthlessness of all things comedic.)
Bar Pink was understandably packed for this show, as Apes of Wrath have
caused quite a stir over the last year in San Diego, North Park especially. Prior to this show, I had somehow avoided ever seeing the Apes play, and had only heard a brief snippet of one of their songs. People talk up this band quite a bit, and they just received a San Diego Music Award nomination for best alternative band. It is my understanding that they haven’t even released anything official yet, which means their nomination was based solely on the strength of their flurry of liver performances. No matter what you feel regarding the worth and taste of the SDMA’s, Apes of Wrath’s nomination is quite impressive.
Since the show, I’ve been thinking a lot about the band’s performance and their sound in general, and its caused me great grief and torment trying to pin down adequate adjectives and references to demarcate their sound. The Apes do not sound derivative of any band, so immediately that is a plus. The songs are short, fast and filled with catchy beats and riffs. The Apes obviously like their post-punk, which I felt was one of the few constant strains connecting their songs. Frantic rhythms, quickly spouted vocals and also I picked up on a bit of a British vibe going on. A few songs reminded me Franz Ferdinand, in their dancesability, vocal style and strong rhythms. That popular Scottish band was one of the only groups that I could plunder from my meager musical knowledge. Instead of relying on my weak description, check out my recording of a song that me and many others particularly enjoyed (name unknown). There’s lots of crowd noise, which was pretty much unavoidable.
Bands require drummers, mostly.
The crowd was noisy, rambunctious, and it appeared that many of the patrons had consumed alcoholic beverages. Many jumped and sang along to the songs, making it easy for a jaded-new comer-hipster-douche-bag like myself to get into the show. I know it has been said many times before, even in actual publications, but Apes of Wrath are a local band to watch. Apes have managed to become one of those local bands destined for greater things. City Beat called them the best band in the world, and also stating that after Crocodiles and Wavves, they are the San Diego band to break out. And all of this without even releasing anything. I’d love to hear their frantic mishmash of rock old and new in a recorded format, as their lively show left my head spinning. After they finished, I was at a loss of descriptors and points of musical reference. I asked everyone I knew there (which is an albeit small group) what they would define the band as, and no one could give a clear answer. There’s something special and enticing when a band can elicit outright confusion by the end of a performance. It leaves me wanting more, that maybe with more shows, and some songs to listen to, I can attain a better understanding of what these monkeys are doing with their music. The big question is whether they can deliver an album that captures their frenetic style. Consider me intrigued.
The Bloody Hollies opened the show playing aggressive Rawk. It was fast, and loud, and for whatever reason, I did not enjoy the music. I will refrain from criticizing any aspect of their music, because frankly I can’t pinpoint source of my ambivalence. My recording of their song actually came out really good though, so I’d to give them another try and see if my ears were acting screwy on that night so long ago. Listen away, and check out that killer guitar tone.
Bloody Hollies opened things up aggressively
