MONKEY OKAY ~ THE LONG HAUL OF CERCOPITHECOIDEA ...... review

Let us start this review by giving a huge shout out to Doom Charts/Doomed and Stoned's Mel Lie who contacted us asking if we would consider giving the subject of this review a listen. The band Mel so graciously pointed us towards hail from Denmark and jam a groove that defies labelling, they are a band who are just as likely to hit a fat reverberating E chord as they are to go off on some meandering journey into ambient post-rock territory. The bands name is Monkey Okay, Jeppe Juul Stephansen (vocals); Mads Siegenfeldt (guitar); Hkh KeiZeren (bass); Peter Clement Lund (guitar) and Kristian Berg (drums), the album that Mel suggested we wrap our ears around is called "The Long Haul Of Ceropithecoidea"

"Spiral", an engaging instrumental, starts the ball rolling, it's blend of post-rock textures, space rock flavoured swirls and lysergic laced prog makes an interesting change from the usual grab you by the throat hands employed by many bands for a first track. That throat grabbing moment is reserved for the next track "S-G-G-Y" a desert flavoured rocker full to brimming over with catchy hooks and memorable head nodding riffs that possesses a superb vocal melody and chorus that will stay spinning around in your head long after the album finishes. Weirdness then descends in the shape of "Boatman SE 84 pt.1" a song (if that's the right term) which comes across as some sort of tone poem, its heavily effected vocals, narrated over a backdrop of synthesized swirls whoops and warbles beneath which all manner of percussive tricks are employed, gives it a strange but hypnotic quality, unfortunately Desert Psychlist can envisage many skipping this track owing to its unorthodox and experimental nature but it is in our opinion well worth a listen. Normality returns with "Soldier" a song that mixes its rock one part stoner, two parts hard rock and throws a little doom in for good measure. Next up is title track "The Long Haul of Ceropithecoidea" a huge sprawling opus that takes in everything from pop to prog routinely stopping off at rocks stoner, desert and hard to refuel before heading off into uncharted waters to experiment with elements of space, post-rock and heavy psych.

Intelligent, complex and, in places, experimental "The Long Haul of Ceropithecoidea" is also rocking, fun and joyous, its an unorthodox mix but then Monkey Okay are an unorthodox band and in these unorthodox times what more could you possibly ask for. 

Check 'em out ...

© 2020 Frazer Jones