Monkey Bones

Monkey Bones and their debut CD, "Television" is an all-out rock attack of blazing guitars, impassioned vocals, biting lyrics, and the rock-solid kind of playing to bring it all home. Buoyed by a big beat-infused rhythm section firing on all cylinders, "Television" features 12 original songs that rarely let up. But despite an almost relentless fury, The Monkey Bones deftly balance many of their riff-heavy songs with effective and at times, subtle background vocals that add dimension and nuance to a style not always noted for such attributes. Notably, "Sunny Rays" shows the band can deliver the arena rock ballad as needed while "Hammer Comin' Down" offers up a rich vein of Southern Rock swagger. Delivered with a snarl & bravado as fitting as it is emblematic, the casually thrown out line "it's all fair in love and rock & roll" in the CD's closer, "Cross-Eyed," is more than a fair summary of "Television," it's a veritable battle cry.
-Rice B. and the RadioIndy.com Reviewer Team
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Monkey Bones
Television

Rating: 3 stars by Dan MacIntosh

It’s getting harder and harder to find good, honest rock & roll bands nowadays. Far too often, bands quickly attach themselves to popular styles and trends, instead of taking the necessary time to craft memorable songs. Monkey Bones, in stark contrast to the current music scene, turns its disgust with television (among other pop culture annoyances) into great, hard rocking music.

Monkey Bones has a little fun at the expense of reality television with its song (its title song, to be exact) “Television”. After all, who doesn’t have a few sardonic thoughts about so called reality television? Men, women, and children exit any semblance of reality right after the cameras begin to roll, right? But isn’t this also a case of, ‘Look who’s calling the kettle black?’ Because if you’re looking for reality, you certainly won’t find a whole lot of well grounded individuals populating the drug and alcohol saturated late night, downtown clubs of AnyBigCity, USA (AKA rock & hangouts).

This band is from Tulsa, Oklahoma, which likely has a lot more centered people than, say, Los Angeles, CA. Michael Barkett is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and master of ceremonies for the group. He can sing real pretty, which is exemplified by the mid-tempo “Magic.” And when spits out rockers, like “Star Soul Rising”, he does so with an Axl Rose-esque snarl in his voice.

Alan Bates plays Keith Richards to Barkett’s Mick Jagger, with stinging lead electric guitar lines. Many of these tracks bring bands like Soundgarden and Stone Tempo Pilots to mind, although the Monkey Bones sonic doesn’t have the same low end growl associated with those acts. Nevertheless, tracks like “The Answer” contain a similar menacing crawl to them. The slight boogie groove found on “Hammer Comin’ Down” nicely matches a Guns N’ Roses feel with Barkett’s Axl vocalizations.

This group is not just a good sounding band, however; Barkett is smarter than your average front man. He especially shows these smarts during “Sell Your Soul”. In a rhetorical manner, Barkett converses musically with one who claims rock & roll’s going to save his soul. He replies, “Well, I’d like to see the plan.” Just as Monkey Bones know that television – particularly reality television – is vastly overrated, they also realize rock music cannot be the end all and be all of anybody’s life.

A song like “Sunny Rays” offers a welcome break from all this CD’s serious talk. Like the sun breaking through the clouds during a rainy period, its lyric basks in the emotional glow of romantic love. Just knowing that your girl loves you is sometimes all you need to get by. “Rock Me” may be one of this CD's more somber relationship songs, but it’s got such an irresistible groove, it’s hard not to feel guiltily good while it plays. Bates guitar part on it chugs along like an unstoppable locomotive, and his solo is one where every note fits perfectly, instead of the show-off-y heavy metal riff-ery so popular in hard rock these days.

It’s so tempting to laugh whenever Victoria’s Secret puts together one of its annual rock and fashion shows on television. Let’s be serious; much contemporary rock is little more than fashion statements put to a 4/4 beat. Monkey Bones, bless their hearts, would never quite fit into such a shallow showcase. This is a meat and potatoes rock bend, in the best possible sense of that term. They write songs, not just riffs. They have something to say, not just to show. So do yourself a favor. Turn off your television, and turn up Monkey bones, instead.
- Dan MacIntosh, veteran Los Angeles freelance rock music journalist