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Thread

by Great Apes

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 10 Great Apes releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.

    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.
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1.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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
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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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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