Thread, by Great Apes

Thread

by Great Apes

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Chris One of the reasons I miss being in the Bay Area. These guys are wonderful sing-along punkrock and everyone should own this. Favorite track: The Fine Art of Holtzing.

Andrew Stallmann These dudes flat-out jam. After listening to the album stream on punknews about a dozen times yesterday I'm trying to handle the satisfaction of getting a download so soon Favorite track: Vial of Life.

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10

releases

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Mill - White Helmets Charity Digital Single, California Heart, Grey Tapes, Playland at the Beach, Live at Thee Parkside 1/4/2014, Thread, Split 7" with Know Your Saints, Atomic Garden Sessions, and 2 more. , and , .

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12" Full Length
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

Following three 7"s, Great Apes' debut full length, THREAD, will be released this fall on Asian Man Records. The lyrical and musical material on Thread was inspired by and pieced together from written conversations and interviews with close friends. The individuals who contributed spun narratives based on their own experiences and expressed their ideologies regarding subject matter they deemed important. Essentially, each song represents a different person.
Co-released with Side With Us Records.
1. Seventeen Years
2. Arms of Catastrophe
3. Yellow Ribbon
4. Everything is Everything
5. The Fine Art of Holtzing
6. Vial of Life
7. The Edge of Western World
8. Withering Heights
9. San Quentin
10. Thread

Includes unlimited streaming of Thread via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. ... more

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1.	Seventeen Years 03:43	lyrics	buy track
seventeen years of a home where ever I steer  a wander addict can’t quit – the people that risk  it’s a bond in a bail out  we’re carving a new route  through an old parched path - we’re cutting swath  through a jungle of shit   we sit silent and alone  in the green grass dichotomy  elated and unknown  in the thankless debt of false autonomy   an unseen reason – recognition or subtle treason  the warm abuse or some excuse to keep ourselves unbound  the sake of art / the song of farce  a whispered echo when we’re gone  the instrument of sage descent  and all the deaf ears it falls on…   we sit silent and alone  in the green screen dichotomy  elated and unknown  in the thankless debt of false autonomy   what about love?  that’s one hell of a weapon   seventeen years in the murk of the ether  what’s to show what can we sow  from the strain of sound?   what about love?  that’s one hell of a weapon
2.	Arms of Catastrophe 03:57	lyrics	buy track
thirteen with strained seam s hidden wounds open wide  we hit dad’s stash at the eighth grade dance  the bliss of a kiss – peel skin, drink it in  the new found confidence of recklessness and romance   with friends boundaries bend  dig dim to ascend  we found a way to never feel bad again  black need slow seethes  consumed and naïve  great escapes collapsing into dead ends   some hazy amnesia – we’ll call it fun  tying off when we come undone  snake oil fixes breaking tearing  we could care less about who’s caring   destroyer – venom revelry  a death dance – the arms of catastrophe  eraser – an anesthetic blockade  a needle – quack toxic surgery to hack out the memory   we bleed to the pleas of mutes bearing truth  you’ll get no recourse from a refugee that’s half-dead  amiss in the drift – without name and shameless  this lightless altar – a hospital bed   spit up in the alley – drenched in disease  through the S.F. fog comes clarity  calm in the rubble of quaking city  compassion curing – sweet Saint Pity    destroyer – venom revelry  a death dance – the arms of catastrophe  eraser – an anesthetic blockade  a needle – quack toxic surgery to hack out the memory
3.	Yellow Ribbon 02:26	lyrics	buy track
I can’t support   one single troop  when the organs splinte r it’s never done in truth  it’s all profiteering - colonial spawn  not a lack of education  or ignorance’s bliss  you sign the line you gotta know…   I’m not naïve enough to think we can do without, but…  until our forces are as small as can be  and until we save more lives than we take  I won’t fly your yellow ribbon stained red   hail to the heroes – harbingers of death and terror  there’s no threat to protect  freedom’s just a word that blindly holds their faith  there’s no threat to protect I’m not proud of where I’m from  patriotism bleeds supremacy  when we start thinking like global citizens  they’ll be no need for militarism
4.	Everything is Everything 02:27 video	lyrics	buy track
fear your future?  captivity in waste?  oh mortality, I won’t settle in haste  prescribed to a life with a finite ending  they’ll be no after mending…   strife in balance:  risk and safety  in love with time, who else deserves me?    when the bind it beckons you, spit it jagged / tell it true  when you give until you break, take stride in mistake  but save room for fate / gouge out your space  expand your roll/ control is a fantasy  we’re drops in the rapids, you and me   pin in the middle - horizon in chains  oh duality, I won’t settle in strain  when it’s raw and real some will stray away  panic to progress?  or take comfort in decay?  strife in balance:  weigh the give and take  slivers of movement, defined in bliss and ache   when the bind it beckons you, spit it jagged / tell it true  when you give until you break, take stride in mistake  but save room for fate / gouge out your space  expand your roll/ control is a fantasy  we’re drops in the rapids, you and me
5.	The Fine Art of Holtzing 01:57 video	lyrics	buy track
no vendetta on humanity  it's about making memories  choose action over normalcy  push progress bending boundaries stagnate in redundancy   the worthless goo of complacency   change culled in rivalry  crass wrath evolutionary  species: a fluke in chance  If you ain't thrashin' with passion, why even dance?  brief and bland, life’s a killer  all shock, no flat-lined filler  I want it filthy, raw, and sweaty  with no value placed upon the petty   intelligence in tolerance  the royalty takes the least offense  the status quo captor enemy   the taboo always sets me free   species: a fluke in chance  If you ain't thrashin' with passion, why even dance?  in consequence and raging glory,   anything at all for the sake of story
6.	Vial of Life 03:23	lyrics	buy track
with teenage parents in  the Northeast’s winter teeth  a child dressed in bruises   neglect’s sweat soaking sheets     mother’s resenting eyes   father’s fumbling hands  petal fallen to storm - cast out to barren lands   exhaust emaciated frame  cement bed of recess yard  fall lapsing into coma white  wake to fifth grade cards they put a price tag on my vial of life  my breath is profit, not a basic human right  all of the days spent monitoring in fear…  I live for my brother and the people I hold dear needle pointing compass  navigating veins  all paths plagued in sugar   dizzy missing frames   death hides in my shadow  tugging swollen feet  Christmas skin – jab it in  mother’s sending sweets survival assembly line  patient demoralized in care  tied up and strangled by   the red ticker tape of our health fare they put a price tag on my vial of life  my breath is profit, not a basic human right  all of the days spent monitoring in fear  I live for my brother and the people I hold dear…
7.	The Edge of the Western World 03:59	lyrics	buy track
a validation, repose, a homage  the greatest times are not ornate  sometimes I forget they are serene moments where  history and future draw a line through present on a city street   it’s happening tonight   driving a taxi sitting on the beach in dark   “well, this isn’t going to make you rich,” he says  “surround yourself with the wealthy and play golf.”  (and I know he’s right) that this life won’t pay  the spare cab lurches and bounces down   Marina to Diamond Heights   I sit the stoic therapist because I have nothing to say  and at end of session he’s in tears - oh, the ruin of his life   I choose relative poverty  and the sound of the ocean  the waves crash, but I can’t see them through  the fog that blankets the edge of the western world   glass towers give way to pastel cubes out here  American thought pushed to the water on wagon trains  rail lines and ships – steam rollers will make you mad   I will be here again and again  I will always hear the waves, but I will never see them crash  the city at sleep: empty boulevards and wisps of fog in wind  memories of love gone   and the promise of loves to come  intersection, hope, goodnight   I choose relative poverty  and the sound of the ocean  the waves crash, but I can’t see them through  the fog that blankets the edge of the western world
8.	Withering Heights 03:29	lyrics	buy track
knives trace the ribs  inking porcelain blood  bed of languish,  with a blade in the lobe the seriated parasite -  the gnawing unknown  in this withering body,  breathes expansive youth letters to family - there’s no divinity  the universe isn’t god’s,  it’s randomly serene  test batteries / failed remedies  these passing particles  will be reabsorbed and seen the parting partner  to have and hold in only health.  a hollow remission  of normality masked   then love like a whirlwind -  a purpose and home  in your arms I crumble.  the hips rot out (this again)   doused in pain and pills / sleepless in chills  on sticks at twenty six,  bones searing every day   scalpels through the skin / they’re fusing metal in   emerging bathed in sun   oh, the rebirth of decay now new fears rise:  how can I provide  incandescence and a life worth loving for?  in debt and in support,  I will not abort  you are my worry now,  and I don’t worry anymore
9.	San Quentin 03:16	lyrics	buy track
an off-white blemish on a perfect palette of blues  sea green converging with Marin money hues   Tamalpais looks downward upon the wealth-exempt wound  500 acres with a con in every room    while the sun-soaked saunter smiling through Northgate Mall  breathing grey specters sickly scratch cell walls   Samaritans of privilege spewing script liberal speak   wretched truth on the Bay’s edge - oh, the ease in turning cheek    it’s not human if we don’t have to look   in death’s glowing chamber, stone cage to stone plaque  window watching strangers witness life unpacked   under a redwood halo comes love and regret  sinner self-forgiveness while the saint freely forgets   if there’s a problem, we’ll lock it up     devaluation - the slow strain on the core  treatment by covering the sore  demonization enables error without remorse  systemic - avoidance of the source
10.	Thread 03:22	lyrics	buy track
I’m a loyalist, baby  the roots to the tree  I stick in when the torrent rages  won’t you sway with me    giving incinerator – born in your side  we got a thirst for better or worse  let’s drink it dry   when ambition’s missing  when fog fills my eyes  jolt me with the shove of love  guide me in ties we’re all shepherds, baby  we don’t need no gods  we embrace that fleeting grace  and find beauty in flaws    we got trajectory  out of the factory… when your will wrinkles weary and worn  when the hours pull taught and torn  I will sew your pattern into me  weaving the chaos in close company   when the blanket of days wears thin  cover me in warmth again  without you, the seams pull apart  the thread to the fabric – the sum of all parts

about

Vinyl with download code available here:
asianmanrecords.storenvy.com/products/2248467-great-apes-thread-lp

The lyrical material on Thread was inspired by and pieced together from written conversations and interviews with close friends. The individuals who contributed spun narratives based on their own experiences and/or expressed their ideologies regarding subject matter they deemed important. Essentially, each song represents a different person. Without the contributions of these friends, this record wouldn’t be what it is. In consideration of their willingness to candidly share their stories and beliefs, and more importantly, their friendship, we would like to thank the following people: Jacy, Kevin, Emily, Luke, David, April, Tyler, Bryan, and Danica. The last song on the record, Thread, is intended to pay homage to the patchwork of our community of friends and loved ones, and the binds that come with them. We are grateful to have you in our lives.

credits

released September 17, 2013

Great Apes :
Brian Moss: guitar and vocals
 Rob Carter: guitar and vocals
 Matthew Kadi: drums 
Ryan Marshall: bass and vocals

Our friend Josh Staples provided additional backup vocals on this recording.

Thread was recorded over the course of four days at The Atomic Garden in East Palo Alto, CA in June 2013. Jack Shirley engineered, mixed, and mastered the record.

Photography by Matthew Kadi
Type and Layout by Josh Staples

Additionally, we would like to thank our families, Leslie Hampton, Mike Park, Adam Gecking, David Tighe, the Mason brothers, Kevin McCracken, Jon Schmitt, Josh Kuntz, Jack Shirley, Josh Staples, Thee Parkside, Bottom of the Hill, V.L.H.S., Marty Ploy, Scott Alcoholocaust, Punch n’ Pie Productions, MP Productions, Katie Pedreira, Avi Ehrlich, Chris Donovan, Richard Gill, Hilary Davis, Travis Hayes, Tim Reeder, Arin Sarkissian, Arsenio Santos, Isaac Cornejo, Seth Baab, Skyler Jackson, Jeff Hendrix at Crockett Tubs Percussion, Bradley Watkins, Kickflip the Cat, The New Trust, Monster Squad, Daikon, Know Your Saints, Sundowner, Build Us Airplanes, Bastards of Young, Civil War Rust, Street Eaters, Jabber, Turkish Techno, All Eyes West, Canadian Rifle, Cash Crop, Rush and Attack, Wild Moth, Ruleta Rusa, Hawaiian Punch, and Shinobu.

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about

Great Apes San Francisco, California

Insert hype-up descriptors here. Plain and simple, San Francisco's Great Apes are a lyrical punk band. Music, much like a bio, is often at its best when it’s spit out intensely and quickly, with concision and honesty.

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