Red Monkey were an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

, post-

riot grrrl Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. Riot grrrl is a subcultur ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

, active from 1996 to 2005. The band are notable for their political lyrics.

History

Red Monkey was formed by Rachel Holborow, Pete Dale and Marc Walker in 1996, following on from Rachel and Pete’s earlier bands, the riot grrrl four-piece Pussycat Trash, and lo-fi duo Avocado Baby. Both acts had released records on the duo’s own record label

Slampt Slampt (also Slampt Underground Organisation) was a record label set up in Newcastle, England in 1992. The label is perhaps best known for releasing Kenickie's debut EP. Slampt also released the debut single by The Yummy Fur, a band who later ...

, based in their adopted home town of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. Marc had previously drummed for Newcastle-based Post Hardcore/Rock bands Spinach and Kodiak. Red Monkey’s first release was the "Do What You Feel" EP on Slampt, followed by "The Time Is Right" EP on US label

Troubleman Unlimited Troubleman Unlimited Records was a record label specializing in indie rock and similar genres. Founded in 1993, the label was based in Bayonne, New Jersey and owned by Mike Simonetti. History The label started as an offshoot of a fanzine called ...

and then their debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

''Make The Moment''.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

praised the album for its "melodic appeal" and the band’s "ability to make entirely political lyrics work in a personal, intelligent manner", while the group’s sound was compared to

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...

. In 1998, the band toured the US to support the stateside release of the album, and a third single followed on

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally known ...

records, including two tracks performed on the band’s

Peel Session John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

earlier the same year. Tours of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

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 ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

but

Popmatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

criticised the album for failing to capture the live energy of the band, albeit while making favourable comparisons to both

Minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...

and

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their style-tr ...

, the latter of whom Red Monkey supported on their American tours. Third and final album ''Gunpowder, Treason and Plot'' was released in 2001 on Troubleman Unlimited, after Slampt records was wound down the previous year. Joe Mask (of Leeds group

Bilge Pump A bilge pump is a water pump used to remove bilge water. Since fuel can be present in the bilge, electric bilge pumps are designed to not cause sparks. Electric bilge pumps are often fitted with float switches which turn on the pump when the bilg ...

) 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. From 2001, the band was less active as members focused increasingly on their families and careers. A final split single with

Erase Errata Erase Errata was a band from San Francisco, California. The group favored improvisation as a compositional tool and each of their performances were a unique manifestation of established songs. History Erase Errata formed in Oakland, California ...

was released in 2003 and the band played their last shows in 2005. Dale started work as a music teacher, and later as a lecturer at

Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University (formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic (United Kingdom), Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and High ...

, while continuing to play in long term side project

Milky Wimpshake Milky Wimpshake are a Lo-fi indie punk three-piece from Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New ...

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. 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. They continue to be invoked as a touchstone for bands up to the present day. In 2014,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

-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".

Reception

The band have been notated for their overt

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

-leaning political lyrics.

acclaimed the political agenda of the group, describing it as "down with materialist culture, up with self-actualization". Chris Nelson, writing for

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

in 1998, noted the group's lyrics and "jagged" sound. He added that the three members had "... distinct voices moving forward as one."

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", single, 2000 (Troubleman Unlimited) * ''(Split single with'' Submission Hold) 7”, 2000 (Radio One, Australia) * ''(Split single with''

) 7”, 2003 (

Gringo Records Gringo Records is a British independent record label based in Nottingham, England, which was founded in 1996. It is known for releasing experimental rock and its DIY ethic. History The label formed in Colchester in 1996 from involvements in t ...

, UK)

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 (Slampt/Troubleman Unlimited)

References

External links

2002 interview

2014 retrospective interview
{{Authority control British post-hardcore musical groups Riot grrrl bands Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom