Back in November, as underappreciated Portland, Oregon, heavy rockers Ape Machine were getting ready to offer up their new release, Coalition of the Unwilling, on Heavy Psych Sounds, they marked the occasion with a 20-date tour, and as they make ready for the domestic release on March 11, it seems only fair to do about the same amount of road time. Just wouldn’t be Ape Machine if they didn’t. To-date, their career is marked out by quality songcraft, righteousness of performance and a readiness to hand-deliver their rock to just about any audience that will have them. Their last album, 2013’s Mangled by the Machine (review here), further cemented their approach, and though it’s somewhere between an EP and an LP in length, the six-track, 25-minute Coalition of the Unwilling makes a fitting answer in terms of their classic-style chemistry, from the fading-in guitar solo of opener “Crushed from Within” through the “Ape’n’Stein” take on The Edgar Winter Group‘s “Frankenstein” and into the subdued, vocal-led closer “Never My Way.”

Through all six cuts, Ape Machine‘s take doesn’t ask much of the listener except maybe to come along for the ride, and what it delivers in return is engaging bounce and a partially Led Zep-inspired, crisply-presented vibe that holds true throughout “Crushed from Within” and the swaying “Disband,” vocalist Caleb Heinze very much at a frontman’s position ahead of the guitar of Ian Watts, Brian True‘s bass and Damon de la Paz‘s drumming. With a singer of such ability, it would be easy for Ape Machine to lose balance, but they never have and they don’t on Coalition of the Unwilling, either, which moves through the shuffling “Give What You Get” into the more instrumentally-minded fare “Under this Face” and “Ape’n’Stein” — the latter of which actually is instrumental — before unfurling the minimalist guitar and cymbal washes that start the more brooding finale “Never My Way,” which does bring Heinze‘s vocals back into bluesy focus, but with a corresponding change of context, less upbeat initially and moving through a heavier apex with some choice soloing by Watts before they roll the track to its ending.

Like I said at the outset, Coalition of the Unwilling was issued last Fall by Heavy Psych Sounds, so I wouldn’t call this a premiere or anything, but I’m happy to feature it nonetheless leading up to the domestic release, for the quality of Ape Machine‘s output, its total lack of pretense and the work the band have put in supporting it already and which they’ll continue to put in on their upcoming US tour. The dates for that run, coincidentally, can be found under the player below, on which you can stream Coalition of the Unwilling in its entirety.

Please enjoy:

APE MACHINE LIVE:
03/11 Seattle, WA @ Highline
03/12 Eugene, OR @ Luckey’s
03/13 Fresno, CA @ Audie’s
03/14 Los Angeles, CA @ Los Globos
03/15 San Diego, CA @ The Merrow
03/16 Tucson, AZ @ Congress Club
03/17 El Paso, TX @ Mesa Music Hall
03/18 Austin, TX @ Peckerhead’s – SXSW
03/19 Ft Worth, TX @ Lola’s Saloon – Fuzzed Out Fest
03/20 Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone
03/21 Birmingham, AL @ The Nick
03/22 Chattanooga, TN @ Ziggy’s
03/24 Mobile, AL @ Blind Mule
03/25 Gruene, TX @ Gruene Harley Davidson – Giddy Up Rally Pre-Party
03/26 Houston, TX @ Satellite Bar
03/28 Scottsdale, AZ @ Pub Rock
03/29 Long Beach, CA @ The Prospector
03/30 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
03/31 Portland, OR @ Star Theater

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