REVIEW: Them Flying Monkeys, 'Under the Weather'
Photos by Ana Raquel Rodrigues
Almost 6,000 miles away, in Rome, Italy, my best friends and I entered the Yellow Bar, eager for a show from an unknown band. Amidst the crowd of Rome’s most jazzed youth tourists, we fell in love with the band performing: Them Flying Monkeys.
Them Flying Monkeys is an alternative rock band from Sintra, Portugal. Since their debut EP was released in 2015, they have skyrocketed in the Portugal music industry. With their 2020 album release, Under the Weather, the band is making a solid image for themselves in Portugal and throughout Europe; but as an eager American fan, it’s time to expose the overseas scene to the magic of their music. The band is comprised of an overwhelmingly talented group of friends: Hugo Luzio on drums, Francisco Dias Pereira on synth, João Tomázio on bass, Diogo Sa on guitar, and Luís Judícibus on vocals.
Their music, and more specifically, their latest release: Under the Weather, feels like a perfect summer’s day to me. Them Flying Monkeys’ music sounds just how an old music video of theirs — “Molly” — looks. The video portrays the character Molly dancing alone on a sunny day in her room, eating candy and daydreaming. This music video illustrates exactly what it feels like to listen to their music. It’s loose. It’s a summer’s day. It’s eating candy on a Saturday.
Under the Weather captures just what summer love means. “Come Upstairs” opens the album with a bang, with an upbeat sound and swift vocals, which calls for a perfect, jazzy transition into the second track, “Winter Garden.” This track brings a dreamy tone with the vocals and lyrics, singing of fear, nightmares, and consciousness.
“All You Need,” one of my favorite tracks of the album, speaks on the mystery of love (“Love is all you got / It’s a false witness / To what I once forgot”). This specific song lays heavy on the chest. As another low tempo track, it takes us to what may be the most prevalent feeling on a long, hot summer night: the sinking feeling of love and loss. While the lyrics remain quick, the lyrics slow us down as we are taken back to an all-too-familiar feeling. As backup vocals join Judícibus on the chorus, “All You Need” takes us to the moon.
As we enter the middle of the album, “Bogus Odyssey” brings us back on our feet, with a quick beat and groovy instrumental between verses. “Stereo City” and “Unlikely Evidence of Chance” (one of their most-streamed tracks) have a similar effect. They feel like tracks you yearn to sing and dance along to in a crowd as if it’s impossible to keep your feet stable.
“Ego” opens up as if it were born on another planet, with buzzing and UFO beeping. This track looks like an empty desert between the storm, lying perfectly in the middle of the album with pure instrumental melodies, paving the way for “Stick and Poke.”
The eighth track, “Stick and Poke,” brings us to a frisky Saturday night with a special girl, white boots, and a carousel. Keeping a steady, lover’s rocky sound, the track closes with a kiss and a promise. “Uncertainty” perfectly encapsulates the feeling of slow thoughts, trapped in a wonderland of a person (“I know who you are / You’re the mischief in the movie / My last known reality / You’re the soundtrack of my daydream”).
The closing hit of the record is “Rayleigh Scattering,” an ideal ending to the dream summer the album alludes to, with layering vocals and building and breaking instrumentals. The middle of the track comes to a whisper, as the beat and notes become chaotic and echoey, later getting softer and softer until the track comes to an end, bidding adieu to the listener.
Them Flying Monkeys have always hit home, but Under the Weather puts the band on a map like no other. I am only more eager to see where the band goes from here. The production of this record remains solid and timeless. Through all the different experiences the narrative takes us to — heartbreak, self-discovery and headspace — the feeling of love overpowers and remains. ◆
Stream Under The Weather now. Them Flying Monkeys plans to explore internationally, so keep up and support them on Instagram, Spotify, Bandcamp, iTunes and Twitter.