London alt-rock post-punks Apeman Spaceman are pleased to announce the release of their new single ‘Truth Is A Thing Of The Past’ on 23rd September 2020, a searing indictment of the post-truth age and the demagogues who preside over it.
The track is accompanied by a self made tongue-in-cheek video (edited by Nick Mason) depicting world “leaders” Boris Johnson, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump as grotesque schoolboys, all mucking about in a beat-em-up video game without a care in the world, intercut with moments of terrifying reality.
Commenting on the single, frontman Johnny Cooke says: “We are in danger of losing our democracies to international gangs of sociopathic school boys playing games with the lives of billions, and the very fabric of society is being undermined by a tidal wave of bullsh*t. We must fight for the truth.”
Following up their 2019 single ‘Civil War’, the new material sees the band delving ever deeper into their dark brand of alt-rock/post-punk, sketching guttural reflections on a modern world gone wrong, starring a bloodied cast of conflicted characters, all set against a planet plummeting towards civil war and self-invasion from plastic bottles.
Formed in Spring 2015 by Johnny Cooke and Rikki Mehta—both founding members of noughties post-punk band Dogs (Island Records)—Apeman Spaceman are completed by Alexi Christou and Ethan Kennedy. Brutal reflections on modern society, their manic, confrontational, and at times romantic songs are both informed by and a reaction to the increasingly messed up times we live in.
Released in 2016, the band’s debut EP Have Not Love came with a brilliantly bizarre video for title track ‘Have Not Love’, made with film director Ben Charles Edwards and Sadie Frost. Since then the band have released a slew of standalone singles, including ‘Check Me Out’ (2018), Living In A Teacake (2019), and ‘Civil War’ (2019), picking up notable radio support from John Kennedy (Radio X) and Steve Lamacq (BBC 6 MUSIC).
Oh, and about that name? Inspired by a Brian Cox TV show “it’s about man’s evolutionary journey from the savannahs up into space. And it’s about the ape and man in all of us, constantly scrapping for attention”, says Johnny. “And it looks good on the bass drum.”