Dublin, Ireland, gave rise in 2006 to the synth pop and alternative rock outfit Fight Like Apes. Their sound draws from an eclectic range of touchstones that includes alt-rock standard-bearers Pixies, Welsh underground punk stalwarts Mclusky, and the fleeting teen sitcom California Dreams. Sharply warped synthesizers, a total omission of guitars, vocalist Maykay’s piercing delivery, and lyrics dense with pop-culture allusions define the group’s approach. Observers have frequently aligned their aggressive pop leanings with those of the U.K. bands Los Campesinos! and Johnny Foreigner as well as the late American rock act Be Your Own Pet.
The story behind Fight Like Apes, or FLApes as fans often shorten the name, traces back to a family vacation in Spain. There a teenage Mary Kate Geraghty, later known as Maykay, first met Jamie Fox, later called Pockets. Both later attended schools in the Dublin suburbs. While Maykay absorbed the mainstream pop sounds of the period, Pockets pursued the transatlantic grunge movement, and their preferences gradually overlapped. After several unsuccessful attempts to incorporate guitarists, the pair settled on a configuration that placed Maykay and Pockets on shared synth and vocal duties, with Adrian Mullan on drums and Tom Ryan on bass.
Early live shows generated sufficient attention to reach Ashley Keating, founder of FIFA Records and member of the rock group the Frank and Walters. FIFA released the band’s debut EP, the demo collection How Am I Supposed to Kill You When You Have All the Guns?, in May 2007. A second EP, David Carradine Is a Bounty Hunter Whose Robotic Arm Hates Your Crotch—a nod to the “Bill” character from the Kill Bill films—appeared on the same label that November. At the 2008 Meteor Irish Music Awards the group received two nominations, one of which was for Best Live Performance. The next summer Fight Like Apes joined the newly established Dublin imprint Model Citizen Records and traveled to Seattle, WA, to cut their first album with producer John Goodmanson, known for work with the Blood Brothers and Blonde Redhead.
The resulting debut album, Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion—an indirect reference to an obscure Mr. T feature—surfaced in Ireland in September 2008. It followed two stand-alone singles issued the previous month: “Something Global” at home and “Lend Me Your Face,” taken from the first EP, in the U.K. “Jake Summers,” also drawn from that EP, appeared as an Ireland-only single in September, while “Tie Me Up with Jackets” came out simultaneously in both territories to mark the album’s U.S. arrival in January 2009. In March of that year the States received the EP You Filled His Head with Fluffy Clouds and Jolly Ranchers alongside the band’s appearances at the South by Southwest festival in Texas.
