Fight Like Apes
Encyclopedia
Fight Like Apes are an Irish alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band formed in Dublin in 2006.

Their current members are Mary-Kate "MayKay
MayKay
Mary-Kate Geraghty—known as MayKay—is an Irish musician known as the frontwoman of Fight Like Apes, with whom she has released numerous records and received several award nominations. She has also given solo performances as a DJ...

" Geraghty (vocals and synth), Jamie "Pockets" Fox (keyboard and vocals) and Tom Ryan (bass), while original member Adrian Mullan (drums) left the band in 2010 due to creative differences. They are known for their elongated record titles, usually inspired by B movie
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....

s. They have released two EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

s, How Am I Supposed to Kill You If You Have All the Guns?
How Am I Supposed to Kill You If You Have All the Guns?
How Am I Supposed to Kill You If You Have All the Guns? is the debut four-track EP of Fight Like Apes. It was released by Irish indie label FIFA Records in May 2007 and sold out, generating a significant amount of media interest in the process. Three of the four tracks from this EP were reworked...

and David Carradine is a Bounty Hunter Whos Robotic Arm Hates Your Crotch
David Carradine is a Bounty Hunter Whos Robotic Arm Hates Your Crotch
David Carradine is a Bounty Hunter Whos Robotic Arm Hates Your Crotch is the second EP by alternative rock band Fight Like Apes. It was released on 2 November 2007. The EP is slightly more than eleven minutes in length. Two of the four tracks from this EP were reworked for Fight Like Apes and the...

(both in 2007), and two albums, Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion
Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion
Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion is the debut studio album of Fight Like Apes. It was released in Ireland on 26 September 2008, the UK on 26 January 2009 and Japan in April 2009....

(2008) and The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner
The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner
The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner is the second album released by Irish band Fight Like Apes. It was released on 27 August 2010 in the Republic of Ireland as the follow-up to their debut album Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion. An international release date has...

(2010). In 2009, they released an EP for the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 market titled You Filled His Head with Fluffy Clouds and Jolly Ranchers, What Did You Think Was Going to Happen?.

Fight Like Apes have toured the UK with The Von Bondies
The Von Bondies
The Von Bondies were an American alternative rock band. The group disbanded in July 2011. Its most recent members were Jason Stollsteimer on vocals and lead guitar, Christy Hunt on rhythm guitar and Leann Banks on bass guitar...

, The Ting Tings
The Ting Tings
The Ting Tings are an English music duo comprising Jules de Martino and Katie White . They formed in December 2007 while based at Islington Mill Studios in Salford...

, The Prodigy
The Prodigy
The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...

 and Kasabian and have played several Irish and European festivals throughout their career. They have appeared on several television shows in Ireland, including Tubridy Tonight
Tubridy Tonight
Tubridy Tonight is an Irish chat show hosted by Ryan Tubridy that aired for five series on RTÉ One between 2004 and 2009. The programme featured guest interviews , audience participation and live music from both a guest music group and the house band...

, WeTV
WETV
WETV may refer to:* WE tv, an American cable television channel marketed towards women* WE TV, an youth-oriented Indian cable channel* WETV-LP, a low-power television station licensed to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States...

, The View
The View (Irish TV series)
The View is an Irish television programme broadcast on RTÉ One. Presented by John Kelly, it centres on arts-related topics. It was initially known as Later On 2 and was presented by various presenters until John Kelly joined RTÉ from Today FM, Later On 2 was broadcast on first Network 2 in 1997, it...

, Other Voices and The Cafe
The Cafe (chat show)
The Cafe was an Irish chat programme aimed at youthful persons. It was broadcast on RTÉ Two as part of the TTV strand each Friday evening at 19:00, having switched from its previous location in the Thursday scheduling from 7 November 2008....

. They have also had some success in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, where they have been signed up by Sony Music Entertainment Japan
Sony Music Entertainment Japan
is Sony's music arm in Japan. SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Corporation and independent from the United States-based Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry....

 for an album release on that continent in April 2009. The band have been nominated for five Meteor Music Awards
Meteor Music Awards
The Meteor Ireland Music Awards are a group of music awards in Ireland...

, Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion was nominated for the Choice Music Prize
Choice Music Prize
-Establishment:It was established by journalist Jim Carroll and manager Dave Reid in 2005. as an alternative to the industry-dominated Meteor Music Awards. The Choice Music Prize is modelled after the Mercury Prize which is awarded each year to the best album from the United Kingdom or Ireland...

 and was named 31st best album of the decade by Phantom FM
Phantom FM
Phantom 105.2 is a Dublin based radio station, founded in 1996 as a pirate radio station. Phantom broadcasts under a contract awarded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland ....

 at the end of 2009. Fight Like Apes were named the fourth best Irish musical act of their generation by The Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...

in 2009.

Formation

Fight Like Apes formed late 2006 when Mary-Kate Geraghty (known as "MayKay"), a former choir singer, and her friends, Jamie Fox (known as "Pockets"), Adrian Mullan and Tom Ryan, all of whom had experience in other bands, came together. MayKay and Pockets first met as teenagers on holiday in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 where they realised they both went to nearby schools and shared the same "extremely optimistically cynical outlook on life". When MayKay told Pockets she loved singing he had her sign a contract on a piece of tissue in a bar. Pockets's parents were unhappy with their son's "disgusting" taste in music. He dropped out of his final year of study at Dublin City University
Dublin City University
Dublin City University is a university situated between Glasnevin, Santry, Ballymun and Whitehall on the Northside of Dublin in Ireland...

 and a potential career in journalism to pursue his musical career. MayKay had been studying medicinal chemistry
Medicinal chemistry
Medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry are disciplines at the intersection of chemistry, especially synthetic organic chemistry, and pharmacology and various other biological specialties, where it is involved with design, chemical synthesis and development for market of pharmaceutical...

, and later a philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 course at Trinity College Dublin. They habitually met from early morning and spent their days eating together before deciding to form a band. Their chosen name was inspired by Caesar's battle cry of “Now fight like apes” in the what they describe as the "notoriously bad" Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Battle for the Planet of the Apes is a 1973 science fiction film directed by J. Lee Thompson. It is the fifth and last entry in the original Planet of the Apes series produced by Arthur P...

.

Early EPs (2007)

Their debut EP, How Am I Supposed to Kill You If You Have All the Guns?, released by Irish indie label FIFA Records in early 2007, sold out and generated a significant amount of interest in the media and in the Irish blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...

ging community in the process. In May 2007, Fight Like Apes won Phantom FM
Phantom FM
Phantom 105.2 is a Dublin based radio station, founded in 1996 as a pirate radio station. Phantom broadcasts under a contract awarded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland ....

's Topman Unsigned Band Search; their prize was to be a support act of The Holloways
The Holloways
The Holloways are a four-piece indie-rock band from North London.-Formation:David Jackson and Bryn Fowler established the beginnings of the band, finding Rob Skipper at a local live music venue. They would meet later to jam together, playing in future drummer Dave Danger's room...

 at show in Dublin. Fight Like Apes played both Electric Picnic
Electric Picnic
The 2005 festival took place on Saturday 3 September and Sunday 4 September. It is best remembered for Arcade Fire's performance which came before their subsequent mainstream success...

 (their first major Irish festival) and Hard Working Class Heroes
Hard Working Class Heroes
Hard Working Class Heroes is an Irish music festival for emerging bands. It has taken place in Dublin on an annual basis in and around September of each year since 2003...

 in 2007 and also performed at the CMJ Music Marathon
CMJ Music Marathon
CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival is put on by CMJ Network. CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival 2010 is scheduled for October 19–23 and will be headquartered at New York University and other downtown NYC venues.- History :...

 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. They were also chosen to play the Futureshock stage at EXIT
EXIT (festival)
Exit is an annual summer music festival in the Petrovaradin Fortress of Novi Sad, Serbia. It is staged annually since 2000 and usually lasts four days ....

 in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

 after sending a demo of their songs to the organisers. On 13 October 2007, Fight Like Apes performed "Jake Summers" on television chat show, Tubridy Tonight
Tubridy Tonight
Tubridy Tonight is an Irish chat show hosted by Ryan Tubridy that aired for five series on RTÉ One between 2004 and 2009. The programme featured guest interviews , audience participation and live music from both a guest music group and the house band...

. The title of their second EP, David Carradine is a Bounty Hunter Whos Robotic Arm Hates Your Crotch, released on 2 November 2007, was inspired by the film Future Force starring David Carradine
David Carradine
David Carradine was an American actor and martial artist, best known for his role as a warrior monk, Kwai Chang Caine, in the 1970s television series, Kung Fu, which later had a 1990s sequel series, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues...

, which the band found on the internet. The EP's lead track, "Do You Karate?", was a minor hit on the Irish independent music scene. The band set off on their first UK tour after the EP's release and their "Jake Summers" single was released there through the label, Cool For Cats (sister of Fierce Panda
Fierce Panda Records
Fierce Panda Records is a London-based independent record label, with its first release in February 1994. It also produced a small number of releases that year by now famous artists such as Ash, The Bluetones, Baby Bird and Supergrass...

). In February 2008, the band toured Ireland and the UK as a support act of The Von Bondies
The Von Bondies
The Von Bondies were an American alternative rock band. The group disbanded in July 2011. Its most recent members were Jason Stollsteimer on vocals and lead guitar, Christy Hunt on rhythm guitar and Leann Banks on bass guitar...

. Von Bondies member Jason Stollsteimer
Jason Stollsteimer
Jason Stollsteimer is the vocalist and guitarist for the American indie rock band The Von Bondies. Stollsteimer also is the main songwriter and producer of the Von Bondies...

 has described Fight Like Apes as “candy wrapped in barbed wire”. Fight Like Apes were invited to participate in the sixth series of RTÉ's annual Other Voices music show, performing on 19 March 2008. They also appeared on RTÉ Two
RTÉ Two
RTÉ Two is a free-to-air general entertainment channel operated by Irish state broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. RTÉ Two is available throughout the island of Ireland through digital terrestrial service Saorview, VHF and UHF bands, and is also available via satellite to Irish subscribers of...

's WeTV
WETV
WETV may refer to:* WE tv, an American cable television channel marketed towards women* WE TV, an youth-oriented Indian cable channel* WETV-LP, a low-power television station licensed to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States...

television show. Fight Like Apes performed at the South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...

 festival in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 in 2008. Upon their return from South by Southwest in March/April 2008, they went on a national tour of Ireland. Later that year, Fight Like Apes appeared at several music festivals in Ireland and the UK, including an appearance on the Futures Stage at T in the Park
T in the Park
T in the Park is a major British music festival that has been held annually since 1994. It is named after its main sponsor, the brewing company Tennents. It was originally held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire but since 1997 has been held at a disused airfield in Balado, Kinross-shire...

, and two appearances at the 2008 Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...

, as well as Oxegen 2008
Oxegen 2008
Oxegen '08 was the fifth Oxegen festival to take place, following the dissolution of its predecessor Witnness in 2004. It took place on the weekend of Friday 11 July, Saturday 12 July and Sunday 13 July at Punchestown Racecourse near Naas in County Kildare, Ireland. For the first time the festival...

 and Indie-pendence
Indie-pendence
Indiependence is an annual Irish indie-rock music festival, that usually takes place at or near Mitchelstown in County Cork. Indiependence is one of the "little two" music festivals in Ireland, sharing many of its acts with Castlepalooza which is held on the same weekend in Tullamore, County Offaly...

 in Ireland. The single "Lend Me Your Face/Lightsabre Cock-sucking Blues" was released in the UK on 21–28 July 2008.

Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion (2008)

The band spent a month in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

, in early 2008, recording tracks for their debut album, produced by John Goodmanson
John Goodmanson
John Goodmanson is an American recording engineer and indie rock record producer.-Selected discography:*Aiden "Conviction " *Simple Plan "Crash and Burn"...

. The album, titled Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion, was released on 26 September 2008 on Model Citizen Records, selling continually well in Ireland and the UK. It was preceded by the release of the single "Something Global" on 11 July 2008. They played a sold-out launch show at Whelan's in Dublin, which was broadcast live on Phantom FM on the day of release. The Irish Times described the album as an "astonishing debut that encompasses melancholy
Melancholia
Melancholia , also lugubriousness, from the Latin lugere, to mourn; moroseness, from the Latin morosus, self-willed, fastidious habit; wistfulness, from old English wist: intent, or saturnine, , in contemporary usage, is a mood disorder of non-specific depression,...

 and whimsy (both lyrically and musically)". The Irish Independent
Irish Independent
The Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...

, on the other hand, "strongly urge[d] all not to waste their money" on "the woeful debut" of a band with "lots of blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...

ger and media friends, all aurally challenged". RTÉ also gave the album a lukewarm response. MayKay has said she is unbothered by any criticism as long as the album is simply being reviewed. Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion reached the top five of the Irish Albums Chart
Irish Albums Chart
The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically...

, meaning the band became the first alternative act from Ireland to achieve this for several years, and "Jake Summers" and "Lend Me Your Face" became regularly played at indie clubs throughout Ireland.

They went on to support The Ting Tings
The Ting Tings
The Ting Tings are an English music duo comprising Jules de Martino and Katie White . They formed in December 2007 while based at Islington Mill Studios in Salford...

 on a sell-out UK tour, receiving kung fu lessons from their security guard Preston and a champagne bottle on the final night. They appeared on The Cafe
The Cafe (chat show)
The Cafe was an Irish chat programme aimed at youthful persons. It was broadcast on RTÉ Two as part of the TTV strand each Friday evening at 19:00, having switched from its previous location in the Thursday scheduling from 7 November 2008....

on 16 October 2008. The Prodigy
The Prodigy
The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...

 personally invited the band to support them on their sold-out arena tour of the UK; all of the members are fans of Fight Like Apes and Liam Howlett
Liam Howlett
Liam Paris Howlett known as Liam Howlett , is a member of the English band The Prodigy, occasional DJ, and a music producer.-Life and career:...

 entered their dressing room to give his regards. Sony Music Entertainment Japan
Sony Music Entertainment Japan
is Sony's music arm in Japan. SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Corporation and independent from the United States-based Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry....

 signed the band for the Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

n release of Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion. They headlined the Levi's
Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co. is a privately held American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's brand of denim jeans. It was founded in 1853 when Levi Strauss came from Buttenheim, Franconia, to San Francisco, California to open a west coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business...

 One to Watch Tour in November 2008. In December 2008, a video of students of the Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....

 in New York, featuring several females miming to "Digifuckers", was released.

Eurosonic, UK, US and Japan (2009)

Fight Like Apes represented Ireland
Ireland in the Eurosonic Festival
Each year Ireland selects a number of bands and musicians to participate in the Eurosonic Festival in Groningen, Netherlands. In recent years, RTÉ 2fm, thanks to Ian Wilson, have sponsored two bands per festival.- Ireland's entries :...

 in the Eurosonic Festival
Eurosonic Festival
Eurosonic is Europe’s largest showcase festival and takes place on a yearly basis on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday previous to Noorderslag festival in the dutch city Groningen. Eurosonic is part of The European Music Conference and Showcase Festival Eurosonic Noorderslag. During the festival 250...

 in Groningen, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, in January 2009, This appearance led to the band qualifying for admission into the European Talent Exchange Programme, allowing the band to be booked for music festivals across Europe, including Glastonbury and T in the Park. Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion was released in the UK on 26 January 2009. The band played a studio session for Steve Lamacq
Steve Lamacq
Steve Lamacq , sometimes known by his nicknames Lammo or "The Cat" is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio stations BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 2.-Early career:He was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire...

 of BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 around this time, with Maykay also encountering Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross may refer to:* Jonathan Ross , English television and radio personality* Jonathan Ross , United States Senator, Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court* Jonathon Ross , former Australian rules footballer...

, a fan of the band who has played their music on his show. They released a video for a new single, "Tie Me Up with Jackets", later that month and performed the song on The View
The View (Irish TV series)
The View is an Irish television programme broadcast on RTÉ One. Presented by John Kelly, it centres on arts-related topics. It was initially known as Later On 2 and was presented by various presenters until John Kelly joined RTÉ from Today FM, Later On 2 was broadcast on first Network 2 in 1997, it...

on 10 March 2009. Also In March 2009, came the release of the EP You Filled His Head with Fluffy Clouds and Jolly Ranchers, What Did You Think Was Going to Happen? for the US market as well as a return to South by Southwest.
Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion was released in Japan in April 2009, with Fight Like Apes filming a music video for the international release of their "Something Global" single in Whelan's, Dublin. On 3 April 2009, The Irish Times named Fight Like Apes the fourth best contemporary Irish musical act, above Lisa Hannigan
Lisa Hannigan
Lisa Margaret Hannigan is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. For several years she was a member of Damien Rice's band before beginning her solo career in 2008. She has been the recipient of various award nominations and critical praise both in Ireland and the USA...

 and below Cathy Davey
Cathy Davey
Cathy Davey is an Irish singer-songwriter. She has released one extended play, "Come Over" , and three albums, Something Ilk , Tales of Silversleeve and The Nameless...

, Jape
Jape (band)
Jape are an Irish electronic–rock band from Dublin. Formed as a side project by Richie Egan whilst part of The Redneck Manifesto, they have released four albums to date; Cosmosphere , The Monkeys in the Zoo Have More Fun Than Me , Ritual and Ocean of Frequency...

 and David Holmes
David Holmes (musician)
David Holmes is a Northern Irish DJ, musician and composer.-Career:Holmes began djing in Belfast from the age of 15. His first hit was the song "DeNiro", with Ashley Beedle, in 1992. In the early to mid 1990s he ran two club nights in the Belfast Art College known as Sugar Sweet and Shake Yer Brain...

. The newspaper claimed that "Ireland has, quite simply, never seen a band like Fight Like Apes", reasoning that this was due to them "acting as a palette-cleansing antidote to the dour “woolly jumper brigade” that dragged Irish music into the depths of despair not a decade ago". They played at the 2009 Trinity Ball in May, an event likened to "a mini-Oxegen without the mud". The band's 2009 summer tour consisted of both domestic and European festival dates, and an appearance in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. Their performance at Festival Internacional de Benicàssim
Festival Internacional de Benicàssim
The Festival Internacional de Benicàssim is an annual music festival which takes place in the village of Benicàssim, province of Castelló, Valencian Community in Spain. It focuses mainly on pop, rock and electronica artists, as well as having other elements besides music like short films,...

 in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 was cancelled due to a fire and extreme winds. Their performance at Oxegen 2009
Oxegen 2009
Oxegen 2009 was the sixth Oxegen festival to take place since 2004. It took place on the weekend of Friday 10 July, Saturday, 11 July and Sunday, 12 July at Punchestown Racecourse near Naas in County Kildare, Ireland...

 was their second at the festival, with band members banging chairs during their performance and The Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...

tipping them to appear on the Main Stage in 2010.

At the end of 2009, Fight Like Apes performed a show in The Academy
The Academy (music venue)
The Academy is a music venue located in Dublin, Ireland. It consists of four floors, each for differing music tastes.The Academy was the venue where The Killers performed an intimate show in August 2008, one night before a performance in Marlay Park. Others to have played the venue in 2008 include...

 inside a specially constructed wrestling ring. Their music is also being used to promote television series such as Making the Band
Making the Band
Making the Band is an ABC/MTV reality television series that exists in separate iterations, each iteration focusing on a specific music act. It spawned musical acts O-Town, Da Band, Danity Kane, Day26, and Donnie Klang...

and Valemont
Valemont
Valemont is a supernatural American television miniseries on MTV that premiered on September 21, 2009. Two episodes premiered on Tuesdays during The Hills and The City. For six consecutive weeks, two and a half minute episodes of Valemont premiered in the commercial pods directly preceding The...

in the United States. A second album will be released in 2010. The first album was named 31st best album of the decade by Phantom FM
Phantom FM
Phantom 105.2 is a Dublin based radio station, founded in 1996 as a pirate radio station. Phantom broadcasts under a contract awarded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland ....

 at the end of 2009. They will appear at Electric Picnic 2010
Electric Picnic 2010
Electric Picnic 2010 was the seventh edition of the Electric Picnic festival to take place. The three-day event took take place on the weekend of Friday September 3, Saturday September 4 and Sunday September 5 at Stradbally Hall in Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland...

.

Second studio album, Adrian's departure (2010 - Present)

The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner
The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner
The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner is the second album released by Irish band Fight Like Apes. It was released on 27 August 2010 in the Republic of Ireland as the follow-up to their debut album Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion. An international release date has...

, the second album by Fight Like Apes, was released in the Republic of Ireland on August 27, 2010, through Model Citizen Records. A further European release, as well as release dates for Japan and North America, are due to be announced soon. The first single was released as a download only in Ireland on August 20, 2010 with the lead single being "Hoo Ha Henry". The band began promoting the album in Ireland on July 30, with live performances in Meath
County Meath
County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...

, Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

, Galway
Galway
Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...

 and at Electric Picnic in County Laois. The band appeared on Beat 102 103 to promote their new album on August 8, 2010.

Adrian Mullan left the band in 2010 due to "creative differences".

On Friday September 3, 2010 their new album The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner entered the Irish charts at number 3. On 1 November, they announced an extension to their end-of-year national tour. In March 2011, they announced an Irish nationwide tour and released the single "Jenny Kelly". The band performed at The Trinity Ball 2011 with new bassist Conor Garry as Tom Ryan has gone back to college to study.

Style and influences

BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

's Steve Lamacq
Steve Lamacq
Steve Lamacq , sometimes known by his nicknames Lammo or "The Cat" is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio stations BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 2.-Early career:He was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire...

 has described Fight Like Apes as a "great Misfit band" inhabiting "a lonely place out on the periphery of the indie rock world". At one show in June 2008, he witnessed them "thrash about on their guitars and keyboards and wotnot like it's some kind of pop exorcism
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...

" and saw them "rolling around the empty dancefloor playflighting ". Today FM
Today FM
Radio Ireland Ltd, trading as 100-102 Today FM is an Irish commercial FM radio station which is available nationally. The station, which commenced broadcasting on Saint Patrick's Day in 1997, can be received nationally and carries a mix of music and talk...

 presenter Alison Curtis
Alison Curtis
Alison "Ally" Curtis is a presenter of radio on Irish national radio station Today FM and a respected figure on the Irish music scene...

 has described them as "really talented... kind of rocky and metallic and their front girl is extremely watchable, almost going into Debbie Harry
Debbie Harry
Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for being the lead singer of the punk rock and new wave band Blondie. She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990s she performed and recorded as part of The Jazz Passengers...

 territory".

The band's influences include B movie
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....

s, computer games, kung-fu
Chinese martial arts
Chinese martial arts, also referred to by the Mandarin Chinese term wushu and popularly as kung fu , are a number of fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" , "sects" or...

 and wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...

. "Do You Karate?", "a thumping bass driven flourish of a song", displays the band's "trademark twin-synth attack" and the Pixies-style "Canhead" has been described as "a concise ode to fish and chips". Musically they are fond of My Bloody Valentine, Mclusky
Mclusky
Mclusky , originally known as Best, were a three-piece post-hardcore group formed in Cardiff, Wales. The group consisted of Englishman Andy "Falco" Falkous from Newcastle Upon Tyne, Jonathan Chapple and Jack Egglestone , who replaced previous drummer Matthew Harding in late...

 and Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...

, Grand Pocket Orchestra, Adebisi Shank
Adebisi Shank
Adebisi Shank are a three-piece instrumental experimental rock trio from Wexford, Ireland.-History:In 2011 the band won Best Album, Best Rock Act and Best Design at The Digital Socket Awards 2011, a music awards show organized by Irish music bloggers. In 2011 they were also nominated for a Choice...

, Jape
Jape (band)
Jape are an Irish electronic–rock band from Dublin. Formed as a side project by Richie Egan whilst part of The Redneck Manifesto, they have released four albums to date; Cosmosphere , The Monkeys in the Zoo Have More Fun Than Me , Ritual and Ocean of Frequency...

 and Giveamanakick
Giveamanakick
Giveamanakick—typeset as giveamanakick and abbreviated as GAMAK— were an Irish rock music duo from Limerick. The two band members were Stephen Ryan , the vocalist and guitarist, and Keith Lawler , the drummer.Giveamanakick performed regularly in Ireland, toured the United Kingdom with...

. They dislike guitars and have been known to perform with kitchen implements such as pots and pans when on stage; MayKay and Pockets even play keyboards with their heads. They purposefully construct lengthy record titles to "piss off" journalists and radio presenters and their self-defined "karate rock" genre was directed at the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

after the British magazine tried to place them in the same category as two other female-fronted bands.

Vocalist MayKay has been described as one of Ireland's "most mesmerising front women" in recent history, with her long black hair and banshee
Banshee
The banshee , from the Irish bean sí is a feminine spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld....

 wail provoking male fans to confess simultaneous feelings of terror and attraction online. She is known to vociferate lyrics such as "you're like Kentucky Fried Chicken
KFC
KFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. KFC has been a brand and operating segment, termed a concept of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global...

 but without the taste" and "you're a fucking disappointment to the human race", taken from the song "Jake Summers", a song inspired by former teen idol of California Dreams
California Dreams
California Dreams is an American teen-oriented sitcom that aired from 1992 to 1996 on Saturday mornings during NBC's TNBC programming block. It was created by writers Brett Dewey and Ronald B. Solomon and executive produced by Peter Engel, all known for their work on Saved by the...

fame. Pockets writes most of the band's songs, plays the keyboard and provides vocals for some of the band's songs. Adrian and Tom tend to remain in the background, choosing not to be photographed. The band have never written anything fictional and their lyrics have been described by Nadine O'Regan in The Sunday Business Post
The Sunday Business Post
The Sunday Business Post is an Irish national Sunday newspaper published by Post Publications Limited. Post Publications is owned by Thomas Crosbie Holdings. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, Ireland, the average weekly circulation was 57,783 for the period January to June 2009. The...

as "occasionally literally gynaecological
Gynaecology
Gynaecology or gynecology is the medical practice dealing with the health of the female reproductive system . Literally, outside medicine, it means "the science of women"...

 in their detail and regularly relatively shocking in their honesty". MayKay and Pockets claim that most of their lyrics are shaped by one person who has broken each of their hearts. All of the band apart from the drummer are known for their consumption of alcohol, with MayKay even drinking wine during interviews and Pockets drinking Buckfast
Buckfast Tonic Wine
Buckfast Tonic Wine, commonly known as Buckfast or Buckie or Tonic , is a fortified wine licensed by Buckfast Abbey in Devon, south west England. It is distributed by J...

 prior to performances.

Studio albums

  • Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion
    Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion
    Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion is the debut studio album of Fight Like Apes. It was released in Ireland on 26 September 2008, the UK on 26 January 2009 and Japan in April 2009....

    (2008)
  • The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner
    The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner
    The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner is the second album released by Irish band Fight Like Apes. It was released on 27 August 2010 in the Republic of Ireland as the follow-up to their debut album Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion. An international release date has...

    (2010)

Choice Music Prize

The band's's debut album, Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion, was nominated for the Choice Music Prize
Choice Music Prize
-Establishment:It was established by journalist Jim Carroll and manager Dave Reid in 2005. as an alternative to the industry-dominated Meteor Music Awards. The Choice Music Prize is modelled after the Mercury Prize which is awarded each year to the best album from the United Kingdom or Ireland...

 in January 2009. The award was won by Jape
Jape (band)
Jape are an Irish electronic–rock band from Dublin. Formed as a side project by Richie Egan whilst part of The Redneck Manifesto, they have released four albums to date; Cosmosphere , The Monkeys in the Zoo Have More Fun Than Me , Ritual and Ocean of Frequency...

 for the album Ritual
Ritual (Jape album)
Ritual is the third studio album from electronic rock band Jape, released on Co-op Records in 2008. It won the Choice Music Prize for the 2008 Irish Album of the Year in March 2009....

on 4 March 2009.

The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner
The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner
The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner is the second album released by Irish band Fight Like Apes. It was released on 27 August 2010 in the Republic of Ireland as the follow-up to their debut album Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion. An international release date has...

was nominated for the Choice Music Prize in 2011.
|-
| 2009 || Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion
Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion
Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion is the debut studio album of Fight Like Apes. It was released in Ireland on 26 September 2008, the UK on 26 January 2009 and Japan in April 2009....

|| Irish Album of the Year 2008 ||
|-
| 2011 || The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner
The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner
The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner is the second album released by Irish band Fight Like Apes. It was released on 27 August 2010 in the Republic of Ireland as the follow-up to their debut album Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion. An international release date has...

|| Irish Album of the Year 2010 ||
|-

Meteor Music Awards

Fight Like Apes were nominated for two Meteor Awards
Meteor Music Awards
The Meteor Ireland Music Awards are a group of music awards in Ireland...

 in 2008, one for Best Irish Live Performance for their November 2007 show at Whelan's
Whelan's (music venue)
Whelan's is a small music venue in Dublin, Ireland, located on Wexford Street.The venue and pub was initially started by Gary Whelan and Ian Keith in 1989 and ten years later was bought by Frank Gleeson. Local musicians and actors frequent it...

 in Dublin and the other for Best Irish Band. In 2009, they were nominated for three Meteor Music Awards, for Best Irish Band, Best Irish Live Performance and Best Irish Album.
|-
| 2008
2008 Meteor Awards
The 2008 Meteor Music Awards ceremony was held in the RDS, Dublin on Friday, 15 February 2008. Nineteen awards were presented. It was the eighth edition of Ireland's national music awards. The event was later broadcast on RTÉ Two on Saturday, 16 February at 21:00...

 || Fight Like Apes || Best Irish Band ||
|-
| 2008 || Whelan's
Whelan's (music venue)
Whelan's is a small music venue in Dublin, Ireland, located on Wexford Street.The venue and pub was initially started by Gary Whelan and Ian Keith in 1989 and ten years later was bought by Frank Gleeson. Local musicians and actors frequent it...

 || Best Irish Live Performance ||
|-
| 2009 || Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion
Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion
Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion is the debut studio album of Fight Like Apes. It was released in Ireland on 26 September 2008, the UK on 26 January 2009 and Japan in April 2009....

|| Best Irish Album ||
|-
| 2009 || Fight Like Apes || Best Irish Band ||
|-
| 2009 || Whelan's
Whelan's (music venue)
Whelan's is a small music venue in Dublin, Ireland, located on Wexford Street.The venue and pub was initially started by Gary Whelan and Ian Keith in 1989 and ten years later was bought by Frank Gleeson. Local musicians and actors frequent it...

 || Best Irish Live Performance ||
|-

UK Festival Awards

In September 2009, Fight Like Apes were nominated in the Best Breakthrough Artists category at the UK Festival Awards, competing against three British and one American acts—Florence and The Machine
Florence and the Machine
Florence and the Machine is the recording name of English musician Florence Welch and a collaboration of other artists who provide music for her voice. Florence and the Machine's sound has been described as a combination of various genres, including rock and soul...

, Little Boots
Little Boots
Victoria Christina Hesketh, also known by her stage name/pseudonym Little Boots, is an English electropop singer-songwriter. Her stage name comes from a nickname given to her by a friend, a reference to her unusually small feet...

, Passion Pit
Passion Pit
Passion Pit is an American electropop band from Cambridge, Massachusetts. The group, which formed in 2007, consists of Michael Angelakos , Ian Hultquist , Ayad Al Adhamy , Jeff Apruzzese and Nate Donmoyer...

 and Friendly Fires
Friendly Fires
Friendly Fires are an English band from St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. They are currently signed to XL Recordings. Their self-titled debut album was released on 1 September 2008 and was announced as one of the shortlisted twelve for the 2009 Mercury Prize on 21 July 2009.-History:Friendly Fires...

.
|-
| 2009 || Fight Like Apes || Best Breakthrough Artists ||
|-

IMTV Music Video Awards 2009

"Something Global" won the award for Most Original Concept For Video at the 2009 Irish Music Television Video Music Awards. The video was directed by Eoghan Kidney.
|-
| 2009 || "Something Global" video || 2009 Irish Music Television Video Music Awards ||
|-

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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