Apes of the State at The Broken Goblet
Written by: Samantha LaFlamme
The Looms
On a chilly February Sunday evening in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, a stacked lineup of folk-punk bands took the stage at the Broken Goblet to chant about love, politics, and their local communities, warming the hearts of the attending audience.
Doom Scroll
First up was The Looms, a group of New Jersey natives that shared songs like “Locust II (Last Moult),” about becoming a better version of yourself, and “Marxsplaining,” openly discussing the problems found in modern political movements. Mixed into their heartfelt messages was an acoustic cover of Kesha’s “Take It Off” that had the audience dancing and cheering along.
Doom Scroll, all the way from Colorado and currently on tour with Apes of the State, was up next. They brought a positively infectious energy to the stage, performing a great mix of their album and latest EP, including “Automanic” and “Masters.” Their protest anthem “Rattlebrains” was met with great enthusiasm from the crowd, encouraging everyone to start moving to the beat.
Apes of the State finished out the night with their songs that are honest and inspiring, creating an intelligent criticism of relationships and social injustice, among other topics. Lead singer April opened up to the crowd and admitted her struggles to reach sobriety nine years ago led her to start the band their fans know and love today. There is something rather beautiful about taking darker moments and using them as an opportunity to grow something new, and the entire band’s passion for the art shines through their performance. They played favorites such as “I Listened” and “Bill Collectors Theme Song” with the entire audience singing along.
As the night drew to a close, the crowd chanted for one more song from the headliner. They gathered the members of the other bands that performed for a final sing-along in the center of the floor to close out their set. Everyone surrounding them created a makeshift choir during the choruses of Apes of the State’s “They Can’t Kill Us All” as they clapped and swayed to the beat.