Apes Of The State and Sister Wife Sex Strike

APES OF THE STATE and SISTER WIFE SEX STRIKE hit Nottingham for the first time with support from Cheap Dirty Horse. Apes of the State is an independent Lancaster, PA based folk punk band. Apes of the State was born from the post-rehab bedroom folk punk project of singer/songwriter April Hartman in 2015. In her words: “I picked up a guitar and started writing about s*** instead of doing drugs about it.” Their sound is a distinct blend of classic folk punk, emo, pop punk, folk, and bluegrass with attitude fueled vocals spitting clever lyrical wordplay. The current lineup consists of Dan Ebersole on mandolin & electric guitar, Mollie Swartz on bass & violin, & Ian Cornele on drums. Despite their growth Apes of the State remains fiercely independent and practices a DIY ethos. They hope to serve as an example that you can achieve success outside of the traditional music industry framework. In April’s words, “we don’t beg for anyone to pay attention to us and give us opportunities – we create them for ourselves and our community.” Sister Wife Sex Strike is a Seattle-based anarchist folk punk duo comprised of best friends Pigeon and Moth. The band’s core instrumentation consists of Pigeon on banjo and Moth on acoustic guitar and suitcase drums. Lead vocals and songwriting are shared between Pigeon and Moth, covering a variety of topics including colonialism, anarchy and anarcho-primitivism, capitalism, and subjects more personal in nature. The origin of the band’s name lies in the true story of a sex strike the two enacted in 2021, as detailed in the band’s self-titled song “Sister Wife Sex Strike”. Moth and Pigeon were dating the same person and, after talking, decided one was not receiving enough sex in the relationship, leading to the strike. Around the same time, Pigeon expressed their interest in forming a folk punk band with Moth, leading to the creation of Sister Wife Sex Strike the band. Together, they put our their first EP, Tuesday Afternoon, consisting of the original song “Sister Wife Sex Strike” as well as several covers, including “I Wanna Boi”. In 2022, the band released their debut self-titled album, Sister Wife Sex Strike. This was followed the next year by a second full-length album, Sister Wives Strike Back. It was around this time that the band began to see greater popularity thanks to their TikTok account. Later that year, the two worked with Lancaster-based folk punk band Apes of the State to put out a split EP, They Can’t Kill Us All. In Spring of 2024, the band released their third EP, Pre-Op, it’s name and cover art a teaser for the band’s 2024 full-length album, Sister Wife Sex Change. As a continuation of this naming theme, the band released their most recent EP, Post-Op, on December 31, 2024. Cheap Dirty Horse are a big rowdy queer trash folk-punk band from Nottingham. Blending acoustic and electric guitar with banjo, accordion, bass, drums, and sometimes mandolin, they write energetic, joyful protest music. They sing about trans rights, dead billionaires, and the importance of doing the things you love. They sing about grief, washing machines, and stealing shit. Angry, but always empowering.