GREAT APES

Great Apes

Insert hype-up adjectives here. Plain and simply, Great Apes are a punk band from San Francisco. Composed of four friends that have played in an array of projects including The Ghost, Monster Squad, Olehole, and Hanalei, the band is founded on the notion that music, much like a bio, is often at its best when it’s spit out intensely, with concision and honesty. Following the release of three 7″s and their debut full-length, Thread, Great Apes will be releasing their latest EP on Asian Man Records early in the winter of ’14.

Borrowing its name from the now defunct amusement park that sat on the western edge of San Francisco for well over half of the 20th century, Playland at the Beach is the latest endeavor from Great Apes. Thematically, the EP addresses San Francisco’s past, rapidly changing present, and future. It is a record about the history, cultures, neighborhoods, politics, businesses, people, and greater societal and economic forces that have and continue to shape the city. There’s a lot here about growth, alteration, corruption, demise, and new beginnings. In some lights, perhaps what applies in this context can be transferred elsewhere, painting a broader picture of the American landscape, rife with the polarized hues of both love and scathing anger. Set to an array of punk influences, every song on the record is crafted around the personification of specific local landmarks or buildings. Each structure is an on looking character, telling its own version of the city’s narrative.

Releases on Asian Man
AM-270 “Thread” LP
AM-285 “Playland at the Beach” 12-inch EP

Members
Brian Moss, Chris Chapel, Matthew Kadi, Ryan Marshall

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