ALBUM REVIEW: Monkey Mind – Monkey Mind (People Of Punk Rock Records)
Google ‘Monkey mind’ and you’ll find it’s a Buddhist term meaning “unsettled, restless, capricious, whimsical, fanciful, inconstant, confused, indecisive, uncontrollable”.
I’m not sure whether that’s what Monkey Mind, a new North East punk rock ‘supergroup’ (for want of a better term) had in mind when they made this debut album.
The band is a three-piece consisting of Olga from The Toy Dolls, Crashed Out guitarist Lee Wright, and drummer Martin Payton from ska-punks The Panic Report.
Olga takes a back seat, playing bass rather than lead guitar, and also lets Lee handle lead vocals. The resulting album is one that’s upbeat and enjoyable from start to finish.
Song-wise it doesn’t have a lot in common with the Dolls’ absurb ditties, the Oots’ anthemic streetpunk or TPR’s jaunty ska.
Instead, it owes a lot to US punk-pop bands like Green Day and Blink-182, but it’s better than anything either of them have made in years.
There’s plenty of hooks, more meaty riffs, thunderous basslines, pounded drums and singalong choruses than you can shake a stick at, and some fine musicianship from our three protagonists.
A handful of songs from the album have been drip-fed out as videos in the past couple of years, but most of its 13 tracks could have been what used to be called singles. The whole thing lasts a touch over 37 minutes, so it fairly shifts along.
The opener Mr Wright 2 sets the tone for the album as a whole, and is the first song of several songs (see also Get Rid Ov Him and Sling Yer Hook) about relationships. In this case our man is unlucky in love, or, as he puts it, “Mr Nice Guy’s lost the girl again.”
Next up is one of the standout songs, There’s Something About Lauren, which extols the virtues of the sort of girl all the boys fall in love with. There’s also a song, Buddy Love, dedicated to man’s best friend, who in this case is a spaniel.
Things take a more serious tone on the title track Monkey Mind and Black Clouds, which appear to be about tackling your inner demons and dealing with depression (though in a positive fashion).
The quirky Girl In A Jar (‘she lives in a jar, how bizarre’) has Olga’s fingerprints all over it if I’m not mistaken, and I love the payoff line of ‘why did she decide to spend her life in a jar, does anybody know how she got in?’.
Lee flies the flag for little guys everywhere on Small Man, proving the old adage that there’s good stuff in little bundles, while closer Ice Man is in praise of Dutch motivational speaker and extreme athlete Wim Hof, who’s noted for his ability to withstand freezing temperatures.
My favourite track on the whole album is – you’ve guessed it – another love song. Local Lass, which sounds like Billie Joe and Co at their finest, reminds us, “You can’t go wrong with a local lass/These girls are built to last”.
From start to finish Monkey Mind is full of energy, impressive playing and catchy songs, and while they’re hardly reinventing the wheel, the trio do manage to bring something fresh to the table. 8/10.
Monkey Mind is available on CD, streaming services and (eventually) vinyl, and live dates and festivals are planned for 2022. Follow the band on Facebook HERE for their latest news.
