Words: Gareth O’Malley

That album cover is brilliant, for a start, doing exactly what it says on the tin. It’s eye-catching, irreverent and fun. Quite a bit like Fight Like Apes themselves then. 

The Dublin trio (formerly quartet; Adrian Mullen left earlier this year) released their debut, ‘The Mystery of the Golden Medallion’, back in 2008. That album was bright and boisterous, containing an exhilarating freshness that refused to diminish no matter how many times the record was heard. It also helped that it contained some of the best pop songs to come out of Ireland in quite some time.

This isn’t anything close to a ‘difficult’ second album. Despite Mullen departing the band due to ‘creative differences’, the new record is natural in just about every way. It’s a clear step forward from their debut, and it’s also - whisper it - better.

This may come as a difficult concept to those who loved the Dubliners’ first album. We even had our doubts, because truly special Irish albums like ‘The Mystery of the Golden Medallion’ only came along once every few years, or so we thought. Hello, ‘Trees Dream In Algebra’ and ‘Becoming A Jackal’.

Here’s another. It’s a high-speed, high-octane rollercoaster ride that packs more thrills into forty-odd minutes than pretty much any other album we’ve heard this year. It also helps that it is one hell of a lot of fun.

Things are kept upbeat for most of the record. When we say ‘upbeat’, we mean ‘at breakneck pace’. Songs like ‘Jenny Kelly’ (one of the best songs of the year, without a doubt) and lead single ‘Hoo Ha Henry’ rattle along wonderfully, showcasing the band’s strengths better than much of ‘Medallion’ ever did. 

Furthermore, while the debut was top-heavy (we got to ‘Do You Karate?’ and then the quality dropped considerably), ‘The Body Of Christ…’ is great from start to finish. In fact, songs like ‘Poached Eggs’ and ‘Indie Monster’ rank among the band’s best work so far.

Then there are the lyrics, which can be quite forceful at times. ‘Pull Off Your Arms And Let’s Play In Your Blood’ memorably features the word ‘cunt’ being used twice in ten seconds, with plenty of ‘fuck”s thrown in. Foul-mouthed, yes, but also great when placed in context. Special mention must be given to ‘Indie Monster’ for its second verse, which runs as follows: ‘And they said, watch your mouth or they’ll never put your record out / I was in a band once, I should know / Don’t say ‘fuck’; it’s better to say ‘truck’ or ‘duck’ / I was in a band once, I should know’. Brilliant.

The real surprise is the production. Whilst it would have been expected that the group would go bigger and brighter for this record, instead everything’s been stripped back, giving the album a pleasingly lo-fi feel that somehow manages to add to the record’s charms.

All in all, ‘The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner’ is a vibrant and colourful listen, proving that whilst Fight Like Apes may not have matured as a band - their music as provocative as ever - their music definitely has, becoming less in-your-face and more streamlined, with wonderful results.

8.5