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Fight Like Apes @ The Joiners, February 18th 2009

Fresh Legs were local support for this gig and I was going to lazily describe them as Indie-punk. They’re more unique though, adding funky riffs with frantic machine gun drums. Plus there is Ella’s very distinctive look (tonight’s is half 1930s swim-short style versus ‘Breakfast Club’ knitwear and hat) and voice, which is stunning and very much a one off. Part cute, demure mock-innocence and schoolgirl bubblegum, to screaming vixen in the blink of an eye, and propelled along by a band shifting gear equally as rapidly. The band are tight and has a knack for catchy, energetic bursts of frantic pop – particularly ‘Castle’, with added metal riffs, and new single ‘Sam Wise’ – and the stage presence oddly reminds me of Blondie. Obviously not nearly as iconic, but perhaps something in the band make up. My favourite is ‘Bearded Man’ a perfect piece of power pop with great fuzzy bass bridge, tight drums, chanting break and chorus that highlights the unique vocals. My one criticism? Sometimes, the sound needs toning back a bit to compliment the vocals more. That aside, these guys are exciting, engaging and, dare I say it, very fresh.

I mean, who wants to see a band that just stands there? Ah, that brings me to the middle band. You’ve probably guessed that I didn’t really get into them. In fact, they were literally apologetic when taking the stage and the rushed performance seemed to verify this. Even the band name (Overreact) and song introductions were mumbled through a shoe-gazing floppy fringe, and I didn’t find anything inspiring in the sound. Actually that’s not true, it inspired me – and others – to seek out an early smoke and pint. Still, if un-original, ‘been done a million times before’ mid-nineties mockney post-punk with shredded guitars is your thing…

Fight Like Apes have got bigger since my first encounter – they’ve even got stage props and a stylist now. Well, empty beer crates and toilet paper. But it’s this DIY inventiveness that sums them up. The delay in taking the stage was a little frustrating, but also added to the excitement. When they did arrive, it was with an industrial size loo roll in hand, and Maykay with hair by Tim Burton via Robert Smith. Immensely Gothic. With the venue now rammed and majority of the front row – and band – sporting Andrex bandannas, the fun had started.

Launching with album opener Something Global, the stretched out intro maximises anticipation before bursting into a pounding thumper of a sound that’s impossible to keep still to. Digifucker is next, equally frenetic, with its memorable chant-inducing hooks – ‘and did you fuck her? Did you stick things up her?’ – appealing to the immature in all of us, while the mo-hawked drummer bashed skins with more vigour than the Cadburys gorilla. Apt, really.

The crates make another appearance, as Pocket bashes the walls, duels with Maykay and then hurls them into the audience. All of this is a prelude to the awesome and rousing ‘Jake Summers’, before stopping off along the way for a band brawl in the audience, whereby Maykay sings from her back on the floor. And then comes *that* scream, piercing through the room and signalling another frantic rhythmic onslaught.

There isn’t a duff moment as they blur the boundary between audience, band and stage, engaging the room and throwing out hooks left, right and centre. Defying genres - the throwaway brilliance of ‘Do You Karate’, the caustic spite of ‘Lend Me Your Face’ - they fuse everything from keyboards, samples, sound effects, guitars, drums, punk, pop….and even Portishead-like trippiness through ‘Lumpy Dough’. The only constant is each songs immediacy in plugging into your head, making you hum it for the next week.

Live favourites ‘Canhead’ and their dirty bass take on ‘Light sabre Cocksucking Blues’ are thrown in for the hardcore, before rounding off with an anthemic ‘Battlestations’.

At the start of the encore, they solicit suggestions from the crowd. One request is ‘Jake Summers’, prompting the reply, ‘We’ve done that. What, shall we just do the whole set again?’ Yes please.

Their minds are in teenage wonderment of kung fu, b-movies, sound effects and no rules, whilst they bounce around with the eternal energy of a 9 year old in the summer holidays. And because of this, make intelligent, clever, fun and hugely infectious music. The Apes are evolving.

Photos © Robin Ball - http://www.robinballphotography.co.uk

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