Red Monkey (band)

Red Monkey was an influential English DIY post-hardcore band active from 1996 to 2005.^[1] Allmusic acclaims the political agenda of the group, describing it as "down with materialist culture, up with self-actualization".^[2]

History

Red Monkey was formed by Rachel Holborow, Pete Dale and Marc Walker in 1996,^[3] following the demise of Rachel and Pete’s earlier bands, the riot grrrl four-piece Pussycat Trash,^[4][5][6] and lo-fi duo Avocado Baby.^[7] Both acts had released records on the duo’s own record label Slampt, based in their adopted home town of Newcastle. Marc had previously drummed for local band Kodiak.^[8]

Red Monkey’s first release was the "Do What You Feel"^[9] EP on Slampt, followed by "The Time Is Right"^[10] EP on US label Troubleman Unlimited and then their debut album Make The Moment. Allmusic praised the album for its ‘melodic appeal’ and the band’s ‘ability to make entirely political lyrics work in a personal, intelligent manner’,^[11] while the group’s sound was compared to Gang of Four.

In 1998 the band toured the US to support the stateside release of the album, and a third single followed on Kill Rock Stars records,^[12] including two tracks performed on the band’s Peel Session earlier the same year.^[13] Tours of Ireland and Europe followed before the band recorded their second album Difficult Is Easy, released in 1999. The record received more mixed reviews than the first; it was praised by the NME^[14] but Popmatters criticised the album for failing to capture the live energy of the band,^[15] albeit while making favourable comparisons to both Minutemen and Fugazi, the latter of whom Red Monkey supported on their American tours.

Third and final album Gunpowder, Treason and Plot^[16] was released in 2001 on the Troubleman Unlimited label, after Slampt records was wound down the previous year. Joe Mask (ex-Bilge Pump) joined the band on second guitar. The album was praised as a return to form and noted for the use of non-standard time signatures, as well as horns, which brought comparisons to The Ex.^[17]

From 2001 the band was less active as members focused increasingly on their families and careers. A final split single with Erase Errata was released in 2003 and the band played their last shows in 2005.^[1] Dale started work as a music teacher, and later as a lecturer at Oxford Brookes University,^[18] while continuing to play in long term side project Milky Wimpshake^[19] and also, immediately following Red Monkey, in a band called Chronicity. Marc Walker and Rachel Holborow went on to play in The Guise and Do The Right Thing, respectively.^[1]

Red Monkey reformed for a night to play a Slampt Records retrospective event in Newcastle in 2008, alongside a new generation of post riot-grrrl bands which they and their label helped influence.^[5] They continue to be invoked as a touchstone for bands up to the present day.^[20][21][22] In 2014, Berlin-based label Our Voltage released a Red Monkey singles and rarities compilation, calling it "posthumous post-punk.. by one of England’s finest Post-RiotGrrrl-Outfits".^[23]

Discography

Singles and EPs

• Do What You Feel (Feel What You Do) EP, 1997 (Slampt, UK)
• The Time Is Right EP, 1997 (Troubleman Unlimited, USA)
• Mailorder Freak 7” Singles Club EP, 1998 (Kill Rock Stars, USA)
• Get Uncivilised 7”, 2000 (Troubleman Unlimited)
• (Split single with Submission Hold) 7”, 2000 (Radio One, Australia)^[24]
• (Split single with Erase Errata) 7”, 2003 (Gringo Records, UK)^[25]

Albums

• Make The Moment, 1997 (Slampt/Troubleman Unlimited)
• Difficult Is Easy, 1999 (Slampt/Troubleman Unlimited)
• Gunpowder, Treason and Plot, 2001 (Troubleman Unlimited)
• How We Learned To Live Like A Bomb, 2014 (Our Voltage)

Compilation appearances

• Taking A Chance On Chances LP, 1998^[26] (Slampt/Troubleman Unlimited)

External links

• Red Monkey: KRS profile
• Red Monkey: 1998 interview
• Red Monkey: 2002 interview
• 2014 interview
• Riot grrrl retrospective on Red Monkey
• Punk and the Politics of Empowerment, Pete Dale (2010)
• DIY Queer Feminist (Sub)cultural Resistance in the UK, Julia Downes (2009)
• Milky Wimpshake fansite
• Pussycat Trash review

References