Tex Moonlight "Ape Shall Not Kill Ape" video premiere
10 h
Newsdesk
Music News is proud to host the exclusive world premiere of "Ape Shall Not Kill Ape" by Tex Moonlight.
For now, “mellow” Tex Moonlight is stepping aside, replaced by an artist returning to his roots and venturing once again onto the darker side of the moon. A trailblazer of “Americonica,” his signature blend of modern tech elements with traditional instrumention and song structure has always pushed beyond genre conventions, creating soulful, rugged, meditative soundscapes that resonate far and wide.
Born and raised in Baltimore, Moonlight grew up surrounded by a melting pot of sounds and influences. At home, the radio was almost always playing the best of '70s pop and oldies. While he appreciated the nostalgia of artists like the Beach Boys, Elvis, and Dusty Springfield, everything changed the moment he got his hands on his first Kiss record. By eight years old, Moonlight was already writing songs, pulling inspiration from poetry, books, movies, and everyday life. Ten years later, he joined his first punk band, a move that set the course for his lifelong musical journey.
After relocating his family of 7 from Baltimore to LA and eventually South Florida, Moonlight reunited with one of his earliest metal and hard-rock projects, Ephram Bonus. Reimmersing himself in the band’s loud, fiery spirit reignited his joy and inspired him to revisit music meant to electrify the mind, body, and soul. Today, Tex Moonlight is hitting the ground running, tapping back into the Charm City teenager who first fell in love with the grit and glamour of new wave and post-punk songwriting, ready to let that fire burn brighter than ever.
His debut single from his upcoming new album, “Ape Shall Not Kill Ape,” builds on a robotic punk pop drum loop that echoes and honors the mechanical precision of Devo. In doing so, this contemporary track finds a home in the shadowy corners of the new wave and pop-punk scenes of the ‘70s and ‘80s, unleashing a frenetic rush of alluring textures and alt-rock gusto. The song comes to life alongside longtime producer Dave Nachodsky and a host of other deeply talented collaborators from across the mid-Atlantic. Teetering on nonsensical, Moonlight reimagines some of the most iconic lines from Planet of the Apes, weaving them into a string of bone-chilling sentiments. His spoken word vocals bounce atop a rubbery bassline before plunging into an atmosphere of disruption. It’s new territory for Moonlight—listeners may not expect to be drawn in by the screeching sound effects and blaring guitars, but as they’re pondering the “villain in the mirror” and ancient commandments scrawled on public transport, they might just find themselves nodding along, unable to stop.
In a world divided and distracted by the pressures of modern life, Moonlight’s new chapter is all about keeping things light. “Silly” is a word he not only embraces but actively chases in the “Ape Shall Not Kill Ape” music video, offering viewers a rare chance to set their troubles aside and step into the vivid wonderland of a lost early-2000s aesthetic. After all, it’s hard not to be distracted by a human-sized ape roaming the streets of Fort Lauderdale, especially when he’s joined by director Jim Arbogast’s free-spirited French Bulldog named none other than Johnny Ramone. Even the interwoven footage of Moonlight grooving in front of the green screen nods to decades past, when music videos were designed to simply grab attention and share the artist’s joy with the viewer. It might say something about the world, or it might not, and that’s perfectly fine. But viewers who aren’t careful might suddenly start pogo dancing as if they’ve stumbled into a fever dream of a London punk gig—fronted by a gorilla and his enthusiastic pooch.
