Red Monkey
Make The Moment
Slampt
Scrawl
Nature Film
Elektra
Semi political and totally rockin’, the Red Monkey has lots of sharp teeth and gets a gold star for being the best punk/hard music I’ve heard in years. The first thing that got me hooked on this monkey was the fucking grooving bass work of RK Fuseé, who also jets out some lovely fem vocals. But the guitar (Vitamin P) and drum (ME Cha Cha) work are also RIGHT ON, even when they’re off time. The three members of Red Monkey have really produced some smashing sounds here with a loud and edgy feel that reach deep inside you and force you to groove along. Excellent material, right on Pro Choice politics, and really cute drawings of monkeys on the cover! A+ for MONKEY MUSIC and all around!
Since I’m not familiar with Scrawl, I cannot say whether or not their re-recordings of old songs (there are six on the album) are any different than they were in their original form. I also can’t say if their new material stands up to the old days either. But I can say that they’re good at what they do, and that is rockin’ an emo-indie thing. The two women/one man trio has been kicking it for a long time, and they have their clean cut, melodic to hard, indie rockin’ emotional thing down to a science. Nothing fancy, nothing boring, just good tunes with infectious rhythms that are fun and easy to listen to. I especially dug their speedy cover of “Public Image” by PIL. I was very disappointed to find that none of the songs on Nature Film paid tribute to the chimpanzee included on the album’s artwork, so as far as MONKEY MUSIC goes, they get a C. But, this is a really good emo-indie thing, so dig on it if you will.
