Brain Ape is a wildly imaginative and creative London-based rock band who skillfully fuse punk, stoner rock, grunge, noise rock and shoegaze to create their unique sound they call “Scratch Rock.” Originally formed at the beginning of 2012, like many a band, Brain Ape cycled through a series of drummers, and is now a duo consisting of Minky Très-vain on guitar & vocals and Sol Alex Albret on bass. They’ve released music rather intermittently since 2012, but their discography includes three albums (Dara O’ in 2014, Auslander and Ausländer, an all-acoustic album featuring five tracks from the original plus three new tracks, both in 2017) and several singles. I reviewed the full-length Auslander, which you can read here.

After a hiatus lasting a couple of years, Brain Ape returned in January 2021 with “clxxvi. veni vidi vici”, the first in a series of strangely-titled singles. They followed in 2022 with “cclxxv. theatrum serpentis”, then “mcmi. fenchurch king”, the second of which marked a new shift in the band’s sound. Whereas their earlier sound was strongly influenced by grunge acts like Nirvana, their newer music is now strongly influenced by contemporary pop and hip-hop acts like Billie Eilish, Childish Gambino, and Denzel Curry.

Their latest single “mcmx. drawing room”, to be released on July 19th via London independent label Scratch Rock Records, is Brain Ape’s second single to reflect their change up in style and genre. According to the band’s press release, the song “references a drawing-room within the historic 10 Downing Street (the official London residence of the British prime minister), and continues where their previous single “mcmi. fenchurch king” left off, diving deeper into the story of Eric Tunglsson, son of the Auslander. Exploring rising nationalism in the West and the glorification of false icons, the song marks the second time the duo have made any kind of political statement.”

Musically, the song is unlike anything I’ve heard before, and is hard to categorize or describe. It’s also a brief track, lasting only 1:40 minutes. Starting with a simple, stuttering trip hop beat, Brain Ape layers mysterious psychedelic synths, sharp percussion, grungy scratching and otherworldly vocal sounds to create a decidedly unsettling soundscape that turns quite melodic in the final chorus. I’ve always liked Minky’s vocals, and though it’s sometimes difficult to understand the lyrics, they range from delicate falsetto to ethereal whisper to plaintive wail, all exuding a seductive, yet menacing vibe. A rather interesting feature of the song are the sudden skips occurring from 1:07-1:13, which I assume are intentional. An unusual song indeed, but also strangely beautiful and captivating. I like it!

The video, which was written, shot, produced, directed and edited by the band, features Minky as Eric Tunglsson, Sol as Wyn Pfaird, former bandmate Jacob Powell as Trin O’ Gealach, as well as Siubhan McGealach and The Shrewd.

Here’s the song on Spotify:

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