Part Chimp are some of the best to ever have done it. Legends of what was maybe the last geographically focused, pre-social media scenes in London spanning the mid to late 00s to the early teens, they laid waste to packed, hot, sweaty rooms with their awesome racket.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of their second album I Am Come, Tony Jones, a lifelong fan, explores the noise:
Towards the end of last July, south London noise rock band Part Chimp headlined a three stage extravaganza at No 90 Hackney Wick, the 19th anniversary party for leading left-field London promoter Baba Yaga’s Hut. Part Chimp have been regularly championed by Baba Yaga in the past, with owner Anthony Chalmers also recently publicising the 20th anniversary of their second album I Am Come with an hour long Chimp special on NTS Radio. They are one of Anthony’s favourite ever bands. I agree.
Part Chimp were initially active from 2000-11, before returning in 2016 until the present. Over those periods I have seen them live approaching thirty times. They have been my constant musical companions for well over two decades and whenever Chimp play London, I rarely miss them.
Their sound is tricky to describe and is significantly heavier live than on record, surely being one of the loudest bands ever in both sheer volume and overwhelming sound. I have seen it discussed online that ‘Hello Bastards’ ranks amongst the heaviest riff ever recorded, track it down on YouTube to experience the true weight of this savage primeval monster tune. Its sheer beauty lies in the combination of heaviness with a pulverising riff with a catchy hook. There is no better introduction to this formidable band than this tune. Heavy guitars, crunching riffs, low volume vocals and oddball lyrics.
When catching Chimp live, particularly from the front row, I have occasionally been forced to take an involuntary step back, due to the sheer volume vibrating from the speakers. Wearing earplugs is not a sign of weakness at one of their shows and in his entertaining book Electric Wizards: a Tapestry of Heavy Music 1968 to the Present JR Moores even mentions free earplugs being given out at some of their gigs. This must have been a short lived gimmick as I have never been offered any!
Sounding heavy, but a world away heavy metal, with sludge like dirty heavy riffs, the Chimp sound is unique and in a Reddit discussion (and with my own recommendations thrown in) these bands are potential points of reference: Crucial Blast, GNOD, Casual Nun, Mums, Torche, Todd, Boris, Modern Technology, Michael, Lightning Bolt, Bloody Head, PigsX7, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, Bruxa Maria, Kurokuma and long-time gig buddies Hey Colossus, which feature Joe Thompson who runs Wrong Speed Records and released the last Chimp album ‘Drool’ back in 2021. All these bands make brutal sounding music which touch base with Chimp in some way.
Who influenced Chimp themselves? Check out veteran American noise band Cherubs, or anything from Spacemen 3, Loop, My Bloody Valentine, Fudge Tunnel, Dinosaur Jr, Melvins to The Boredoms. I am also a massive fan of Spacemen 3, and in chatting with the guys who run one of the big Facebook groups (and occasional podcast) noted that Chimp vocalist Tim Cedar was one of the few fans who attended a now legendary show which took place in the foyer of an arts cinema back in 1988, being released as Dreamweapon: an Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music. This is a definitive left-field drome cult classic and the podcasters were disappointed they were not able to get Tim onto their show.
Part Chimp formed in late 2000, quickly rising from the ashes of Ligament featuring vocalist Tim Cedar and drummer Jon Hamilton (AKA Drummchimp). Ligament arrived on the indie guitar scene in the mid-nineties, making a quick splash in the NME style music press, recording a session with John Peel, eventually releasing two albums in 1996 (‘Kind Deeds’) and in 1999 (‘Half Way Between San Juan and Mondoza’).
My love affair with these two interconnected bands began when I first stumbled upon Ligament supporting Killdozer at the Sir George Robey in Finsbury Park back in 1996. I can find no trace of this gig ever happening online, so perhaps my memory is playing tricks on me and it was a different venue. I also vaguely recall buying a CD from a band member, probably ‘Kind Deeds.’ At this point I knew little about this style of ‘noise rock’ beyond Melvins or Jesus Lizard, which specialised in a similar ferocious racket, which was too heavy to be indie but was neither grunge nor metal.
I moved abroad from 1996 to 1999, sadly losing track of Ligament, who continued to gig across the UK, without ever straying into the mainstream or commercial success. After arriving back in London I was fortunate to catch their farewell show, which remains one of my most memorable gigs. After announcing their split, Ligament’s final show took place Upstairs at the Garage (now The Grace Room) on July 1 st , 2000. And what a farewell it was.
Shortly before the gig it was announced Mogwai would support. At the time, the Glaswegian band were indie media darlings, riding the crest of a wave after the critical success of their second album Come On Die Young, and there was a mad scramble for whatever tickets Ligament had failed to sell. Mogwai played one song, the now all-time classic ‘My Father the King’ and guitarist Stuart Braithwaite, decked out in his Celtic football shirt warned the audience after their tune “If you have just come here to watch us and now intend to leave you are just a cunt.” I have no idea if anybody did depart, if so they stupidly missed a riotous live show. I only wish a bootleg of this extraordinary show existed.
Ligament had no, or a limited setlist, taking requests from the audience for this show. I called out for ‘Holiday Maker’ from their first album and it was duly played in crushing, wild free style. By this point most of Mogwai had moved from the stage to the front row, and there was no better feeling that rocking out to this amazing band, jumping next to the Mogwai band members! I have been going to gigs for nearly forty years and there were few finer moments than this, which includes seeing the last ever Ramones show at Brixton Academy and the final Fugazi show at the Forum. For this lifelong music fan Ligament topped them all.
After Ligament split I had no immediate knowledge that Part Chimp had formed so quickly and the first time I saw them live was pure luck. Being a huge Mogwai fan I stumbled upon Chimp supporting them at some sizable venues, including the London Forum and the Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Twenty odd years later, I have never since see Chimp play again at such large venues! Those early sets were barely four or five songs long and included early classics ‘Li’l Bummerboy’, ‘Exladyboy’ and ‘Iron Pond’ which all appeared on their debut album and were regulars in their live set for many years.
Mogwai clearly adored Chimp and their first four albums were released on their record label Rock Action. Live, I’m not sure the Mogwai crowd ever truly took to Chimp, Mogwai could be very loud, deafening even, but it was a different kind of loud to Chimp, more controlled without the sludge heavy riffs. Their relationship started back in the Ligament days, playing one of their very final shows on a Mogwai curated All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in 2000. Chimp returned to the bill in 2004 for another turn when Mogwai were once again curating. The bill was top heavy with big name American bands but Mogwai clearly hoped Chimp might reach a wider audience.
Apart from for Mogwai and a few festivals Part Chimp rarely do support slots, I am unsure of the reason, I would suggest this is because they are simply too good. In the modern landscape of noise rock bands they are incredibly difficult to follow on stage. In the London noise scene they are revered, and it would take something incredibly special to trump them on a live bill. Next time out, they will be headlining Wrong Speed Fest at The King Arthur in Glastonbury towards the end of October.
Down the years I have watched Chimp play all over London and much prefer the smaller sweatier venues. It is hard to keep track of them all, locations include The Garage (their biggest headline show was there in 2018, again for Baba Yaga’s Hut), The Victoria, The Buffalo Bar (gone since 2014), The Dublin Castle, The Lexington, Brixton Windmill and in 2024 The New Cross Inn. That 2024 show was something special, it included early favourites ‘B2’ and ‘Hello Bastards’ which I had not heard live for a number of years. You can even find some fan footage of mine on the Part Chimp Facebook page from May 13th , 2024, including the finest version of ‘Hello Bastards’ you will ever hear.
In those early years Chimp played more live shows than they do now and in the pre-digital music days I recorded a few gigs on a stereo cassette player and ended up trading a few with Drummchimp Jon Hamilton. Jon even sold me a test t-shirt of their caveman design shirt (my caveman is smaller than the final version and in B/W), which I still always wear when I catch them live. Before their 2024 set at the New Cross Inn I saw Jon mingling with fans, but I failed to pluck up the courage to talk to him!
Many years earlier I did chat to vocalist Tim Cedar at a Buffalo Bar gig, but they say never speak to your heroes, so beyond small talk I was stumped for what to say. More recently, in late 2024, I found myself standing next to Cedar again, totally rocking out to Cherubs at the Moor Beer Vault, Tim had already promoted a show at The Pig in Hastings and said on the Chimp Facebook page: “Anyone who hasn’t heard Cherubs need to know about these seminal noise maniacs from Austin Texas. They were a big influence on me in my early exploration into the world of noisy guitar music. What I loved about them was their crushing squelched out sound and relentless churning melodies which you can probably tell had a lasting impact on me!” The Cherubs sound was so astonishingly loud that I did not even consider speaking to Tim! And it was incredibly easy to see why both Ligament and Chimp were influenced by this astonishing powerful live act.
Due to their sheer volume Chimp are not to all tastes. Over the years I have taken many friends to worship at their alter, only for them to say ‘no thanks’ when the next gig comes around. Perhaps they left their earplugs at home in the first outing! I also marvel at the amount of guitar pedals they use to distort and amplify their sound, many of which have names. In the bigger venues, places like Dingwalls, I push to the front row so I can keep an eye on the pedals and how they influence the sound, particularly guitarist Iain Hinchliffe, an unsung hero who travels down from Scotland for gigs. Keep an eye out for cutely named ‘Big Chimp’, ‘Little Chimp’ and even ‘Dirty Chimp’ sound effects.
With Chimp there is definitely a sweet spot between volume, distortion and noise, pitching the vocals at the right level and ensuring they are not drowned out. Do not expect extended guitar solos! When this balance clicks Chimp morphs into an otherworldly force-of-nature experience, this was certainly the case at the 2024 New Cross show, where they were intense and at their very best. On his radio show Anthony Chalmers, the Baba Yaga promoter, commented that he thought the floor was bouncing so heavily it was going to collapse into the toilets on the basement level.
If there such a thing as an A-Z on things to do to make your band commercially successful Part Chimp obviously did not buy a copy. When it comes to marketing themselves they are clearly most unbothered band in existence. I did not even see their limited social media presence promoting the recent one-hour radio special! Five studio albums is not a massive output for nearly 25 years, even if many of the members have moonlighted in multiple other bands. Brief album reviews in the BBC and the Guardian did little to push Chimp into the mainstream and their sound is just too heavy for commercial success. Somehow, I don’t think they are bothered too much.
What lengths would you go to for a gig? During the Covid era Chimp played at Dingwalls when Covid passports were in full-swing and digital thermometers were used before entry into the venue. There was also a London tube strike to negotiate and getting from south London to north of the river was a complicated nightmare. Was I missing this gig? No way was a virus or strike keeping me away! After a shortage of gigs, the chance to catch Chimp live again was too good to miss and plenty of punters agreed in a heaving Dingwalls where Covid was forgotten, for an hour at least. The gig was made even more special by Tim Cedar playing an emotional and near solo-version at the end of set of the old Ligament song “Scratched By The Hay.”
Selecting a Chimp playlist of only twenty songs is a tough ask for this hugely underrated band. When ‘noise’ in the broader musical sense is discussed there is often an emphasis of the pioneers from the eighties, taking in Sonic Youth, Swans, My Bloody Valentine, Melvins and other bands mentioned elsewhere in this article, but when the conversation moves to the nineties and the next generation Ligament and Part Chimp should not be overlooked and are hugely influential. One of these days their hugely impressive back catalogue will be reappraised (Rock Action should also rerelease their first four albums) and I guarantee it matches or exceeds many of the iconic bands who preceded them. Is there is a better noise band from this millennium? I doubt it.
Here are twenty of my favourite Part Chimp tunes to check out. My play list can be listened to completely free through the Bandcamp app here:
https://bandcamp.com/jonezyboy/playlist/part-chimp-top-20-tunes
