Like a streamlined, mixed-sex version of Radar-sanctioned Brooklyn sorceresses Rings and Effi Briest, Apache Beat have got the tribal percussion and banshee wails down pat but have tethered them to taunt, perky indie-rock, and current single 'Blood Thrills' is the pick of a particularly ripe bunch. NME
With the decade's big post-punk revival finally loosening its grip this year, New York's Apache Beat veer off with the sound into tribal murk and gothy gloom. Appearing on a label better known for pop than rock, Montreal's Summer Lovers Unlimited (the Tough Alliance, Crystal Castles, Teenagers), this five-piece take their name from former Kraftwerk and Neu! drummer Klaus Dinger's phrase for krautrock's motorik pulse. The A-side of their latest 7", "Tropics" ...puts bongos beneath low, distorted riffs, haunted-house synths, and frontwoman Ilirjana Alushaj's mesmerizing Siouxsie Sioux ululations. Pitchfork
Both live and on record, the band channel their interests back to the confines of modern music, layering together huge slices of delicately constructed melodies and rhythm. The result is a melancholic drone with vocalist Ilirjana Alushaj cuts through with a gutteral, but still perfectly tuneful tales, of betrayal and unrequited love… Dazed And Confused Magazine
Local quintet Apache Beat boasts watertight postpunk style, built on wiry dance rhythms, shimmery textures and full-bodied female vocals. TimeOut NY
The New York music scene may be in a bit of a stranglehold, but as these kids prove, it ain't out yet. [Tropics has] sensual tribal bongo rhythms play patty-cake with powerful post-punk vocals, accentuated by distorted riffs and a sleek synthline that punctures straight into the primary motor cortex, setting feet in spastic motion. The B-side 'Your Powers Are Magic' kicks off as a waltzy rock number, liberally laced throughout with lovely guitar work. But just as we get settled into the groove, singer Ilirjana blasts us against the ceiling with her powerful voice, and the tribal drumbeat sneakily asserts itself once more. If this is a debut, imagine them in a year. The world can't wait.
Drop Dead Magazine
[Live] local indie rockers Apache Beat built up tension with a short set of psychedelia surrounded by tribal beats. Frontwoman Ilirjana Alushaj shimmied in odd contrast to the beat of a bongo as her band stood still in trance-like wonder. SPIN.com
Apache Beat are a five-piece from NYC that play partly-cloudy pop, synth-wave style. This punk-ish band comes armed with a kind of melancholy edge, and it's powered by the ominous alto of singer Ilirjana Alushaj. She sets the tone. Apache Beat's dark-ish melodies are accentuated by forlorn bass-thumps and murky keys. Oh My Rockness
They decided to fuck it off and make music that sounds like Nick Cave dangling above the mother of all K-holes, at the bottom of which lie Cluster waiting to bludgeon him to death with blunt, rusting instruments.
Vice Magazine UK
New York's Apache Beat deliver euphoric indie with tribal rhythms and a disco-punk angularism.
TimeOut London
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RELEASES
7" ONLY AVAILABLE NOW of Tropics b/w Your Powers Are Magic on S.L.U. Limited pressing and hand numbered.
CLICK IMAGE TO ORDER 7" $US6
7" + iTUNES MAY 12 2008 of Blood Thrills b/w The Western on S.L.U. ONLY 500 copies pressed.
love your stuff. got onto it after reading an old issue of Vice mag recently. oo by the way, where did miss Alushaj get that lovely t-shirt of the cat heads on bikini girls from?
