Tuesday, October 16, 2007

APES RELEASE GHOST GAMES THROUGH GYPSY EYES

Apes will release their fourth full-length album, "Ghost Games" through Gypsy Eyes on February 19, 2008. This is the follow up to "Baba’s Mountain" (Birdman, 2005) and is the first album to feature the new singer, Breck Brunson. The first focus track is “Beat of the Double,” which can be heard streaming at http://www.myspace.com/apes and downloaded as a MP3 at http://theapes.com/audio/Apes_-_Beat_of_the_Double.mp3

When Apes’ former singer, Paul Weil, left the band in 2005 to start a family after six years, three EPs, three full-length albums, and hundreds of legendary live shows, Apes found themselves scrambling for a replacement. Bassist Erick Jackson and keyboardist Amanda Kleinman met fellow visual artist Breck Brunson at a party in their hometown of Washington, DC, and – on nothing more than a hunch – asked him to come out to drummer Jeff Schmid’s house the very next day to play music.

By the end of that first jam session, Apes knew they had found their man. Always an eclectic group – coming from varied musical backgrounds and tastes ranging from 60’s and 70’s rock, pop and psych to 80’s hardcore to Providence noise to reggae to hip-hop – Apes found a singer with a similarly wide range of music interests, along with the vocal flexibility and willingness to experiment in order to make it all work. Furthering the mind-meld, Breck shared Apes’ strong conviction that a powerful visual aesthetic, far from being an after-thought to the music, should inspire its creation and support its performance. Fans were treated to the new line up when Apes opened for Liars with seven brand new songs, during the summer of 2006.

Breck Brunson elaborates, “I wanted to understand the already existing dynamics. Apes are a theme-driven band with songs equivalent to scenes in fictional plays or films. Lyrically, I wanted to add social concerns to the Apes fantastical story telling. The songs we arrived at are a mix of fictional and factual generalizations of our world. There are comments on the disparities of economic hierarchies, one-world leadership, and existence unbound by time or physicality. Now I am no longer ‘the new singer’, but a collaborator of Apes sounds.”

Since the release of their last album, Apes have toured with punk legends, The Slits, Liars plus played dates with Klaxons and DMBQ.

Witness Apes live and preview the new songs during CMJ:
Thurs Oct 18 Brooklyn, NY @ Sound Fix (in-store, 3pm)
Fri Oct 19 New York, NY @ Irving Plaza (8pm w. Spank Rock & Noisettes)
Fri Oct 19 New York, NY @ Knitting Factory (11:30pm w. Ruins, Old Time Religun, Aids Wolf, etc)

http://www.myspace.com/apes
http://theapes.com/
http://gypsyeyesrecords.com

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