Search - Pushmonkey :: Year of the Monkey

Greatness - On par with their self-titled album

Nate | Texas | 07/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Been a Pushmonkey fan for years and can be objective when rating their releases - the last attempt sounded like a hodgepodge. But if a band could be the phoenix from the ashes, it's PUSHMONKEY... and YEAR OF THE MONKEY proves it. Tony gets back to writing fun, though sometimes poppy lyrics while the rest of the boys show off with great riffs, tight beats and strong harmony. It's a great album. Rare is the modern CD release that has more than one cut worth the plastic it's burned on - but Pushmonkey is different and their musicianship is outstanding; radio stations could easily pick up on Track 1, 2, 3, 6, or 9. Probably more, but those are my favorites. Get YEAR OF THE MONKEY and you'll be a better human being for doing so; order online or pick one up at a live show and you'll be amazed - their LIVE shows are NOT to be missed."

NOT GETTING THE ATTENTION IT DESERVES

Thaddeus | You'll Never Know | 05/21/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This new album from Pushmonkey is a great record, with standout tracks like Stuck Out, 10,000 Miles, Sorry and The Greatest. It's a shame that not many people have heard of them. I think more people need to check out this band. They are definantly going somewhere."

An Improvement

King Lerxst | Austin, Texas United States | 09/24/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm an old fan of this band. I went to their shows regularly from 1995-1999 and I'm a big fan of the "Maize" era songs. That being said I decided to give them a second chance after hearing "Rescue Me". I think this is an improvement over "El Bitche" but its still dissapointing at times. Pushmonkey used to be a rap-metal/melody band which was very unique and worked great on Maize and Pushmonkey. Then they decided to start writing ballads and Nu-Metal rappy songs which pretty much made up "El Bitche". Well the melody is back with this album and the Nu-Metal stuff is much better but the annoyingly sappy ballads "Sorry" and "Falling Out" are still present.



There are some good songs however. "Rescue Me" is great and "The Greatest", "Fake" and "Lie To Me" are good. I also think "10,000 Miles" really captures the feel of the early Maize era stuff although it sounds completely different. "Reason To Be Loved" is a joke song and "I'm Down" seems like some kind of weird tribute to Cake.



So really you have a 9 song album with 2 throw-away ballads and 7 solid tunes. I'll take it because when they get it right Pushmonkey has a very unique sound which is lacking in today's music scene.



I'm borderline ready to see them live again but I'm worried I'll just get a show full of ballads and I know its just a pipe dream to expect songs like "Blue" or "Monsters" to ever be played live again. Oh well, I have the memories..."