Apache Beat

Last Chants

(Babylon / Beverly Martel Records, October 5)

Apache Beat have been championed by Pitchfork, NME, NYLON and countless others for the past two years and now their debut is finally upon us. The band has been pummeling stages with everyone from Gossip to Crystal Castles to School of Seven Bells and hinting at what was to come on their full length. Last Chants, produced/mixed by Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Swans) and also mixed by John Agnello (The Kills, Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth), is a spellbinding collection of songs that are as beautiful as they are dangerous. Its relentless rhythms are off set by labyrinthine melodies to get lost in. The album features contributions from members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Rapture, and Lightspeed Champion.

“Knives” opens the album with its addictive synth line before front woman Ilirjana’s powerhouse voice assaults you. The centerpiece of the album are underground classic single “Tropics”, a tale of heartbreak which first put the band on the map followed by second single “Your Powers Are Magic”. “Nightwaters” is Apache Beat at their most romantic with its gentle melody and tale of a love that wasn’t meant to be. The band bares their teeth on “Fear of Falling” with its escalating drama and aggression. Live favorite “Another Day” ends things with it’s constantly mutating melody and insurmountable walls of distorted guitars and synth drones.

Apache Beat are one of NYC’s most exciting and original bands. Their rhythms are unlike anyone else’s, their songs take risks others wouldn’t and they have the kind of front woman most bands dream about. Last Chants will infiltrate your dreams and you will be better for it.

Make no mistake; Apache Beat isn't another collective of art-school dropouts who moved to Brooklyn last month, fulfilling their lifelong dream of 'making it big' along the L line. While such taste-making publications as Pitchfork, NME and NYLON helped stoke the band's "Next Big Thing" status in the past year, Apache Beat started sharpening their post-everything knives in 2007.

Starting with several jaw-dislodging demos, Summer Lovers Unlimited (The Tough Alliance, Crystal Castles, The Teenagers)—were already lining up to press its first Apache Beat single, "Tropics." To this day, it's the song everyone shows up to see, an ain't-gonna-back-down, not-even-for-a-second anthem for jilted lovers and anyone who digs hollow drums, sinewy riffs, and manic melodies.

But Apache Beat's songs are not merely the sum of their influences. Starting with shades and shards of Roxy Music and the Pixies, Krautrock and new wave, Apache Beat meet their music collections halfway with an unparalleled brand of avant-rock that's aggressive and intricate as hell. This is all thanks to a restless rhythm section (drummer Neil, bassist Mike); the cutting chords of Phil; the serpentine synth lines of Christina; and the brooding vocals of Ilirjana, a stage-seizing frontwoman with effortless style (as celebrated in the pages of Jalouse, V, British Vogue and Elle).

But don't believe us when it comes to Apache Beat; believe the band's growing number of friends and fans, from the MisShapes to members of MGMT, School of Seven Bells, Gossip and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. You can say there is a reason—or three—that Ilirjana was asked to sing on the Rapture's last record, and that Mike plays the rubbery bassline on Chairlift's breakthrough "Bruises" single.

They have toured in the US, UK and Europe supporting acts such as School of Seven Bells, Gossip, Deerhunter, Crystal Castles, Chairlift, Les Savy Fav and We Are Scientists.

Apache Beat are set to be the band in 2010 who will be bringing the adrenaline back into music.