The group may be new, but the members are some of Australia’s much-loved stalwart musos – meet The Ape, a burly behemoth comprised of guitarist Raul Sanchez (Magic Dirt), drummer Gus Agars (The Gin Club), bass player Pat Bourke (Dallas Crane), and fronted by the one and only lead ape, Tex Perkins.
Their self-titled debut album has been unleashed and features ten gritty tracks, kicked off by the swaggering “Man On A Mission”, a balls-out rock number that has Tex sounding like he’s been swallowing asphalt by the shovel-full.
This is tempered with some seriously tongue-in-cheek lyrics (“Gonna lay it down/gonna get on top/in a missionary position”) reminiscent of his 2008 Ladyboyz project.
“Crawl Back” shows what The Ape can do when they take themselves seriously. It’s a coolly raised eyebrow of a song, driven by Agars’ fabulously slinking hi hat and snare, and illuminated by Sanchez’s crunching riffs.
Likewise, the brooding “Can’t Feel A Thing” lets the frontman’s plaintive vocals shine, and “Monkey In The Kitchen” is a spacey psychedelic jam illuminated by some searing guitar work.
At the other end of the scale song like “All The Same”, a flat take on 90s grunge, or “Farewell To Jain”, a 70s redux that riffs on Slade’s “Gudbuy To Jane” are lacking in innovation and, dare it be said, have the lads showing their age.
This is an album of brawny, swampy rock laced with some school-boy hi-jinks. The school report for this group of naughty boys might well read ‘could apply themselves more, but are too busy having a good time.’
