Audio By Carbonatix
It’s generally assumed that rock music without guitars doesn’t exactly rock. The Apes (above) know otherwise. The Washington, D.C., band eschews Rickenbackers and Stratocasters, filling out its sound with Paul Weil’s singing, Jeff Schmid’s drums, Amanda Kleinman’s heavily amplified keyboards and Erick Jackson’s bass, which is regularly cranked to jet-engine volume. This configuration may seem limiting, yet Apes platters such as 2001’s Fugue in the Fog and 2003’s Oddeyesee are quirky, multi-faceted offerings, and Baba’s Mountain, an album on the Birdman label that’s hitting finer record stores now, further broadens the template. “The Green Bus” is a carnival midway on wheels; “Baba’s Mount” thuds and slams with stegosaurian power; and “The Night Time Reaper” and “Organ Syrup” draw from an aural palette of the deepest purple. Such idiosyncrasies — which will be on display during a July 3 barbecue session with Orwellian Math Project, Dead Birds and Angerthrone, as well as later that evening in the company of Mr. Pacman and Bark Bark — won’t appeal to everyone. On the other hand, those who’ve grown weary of wanky string-bending may well consider the Apes to be the next step in evolution.
