Album Notes

Any mention of Munkey Juice on the message boards at Tinnitus, the local music website for Zanesville, is met with pages of opinions ranging from the complaint that the band’s recent 20-song set in town cleared the room to others who say they wouldn’t have left if the band had played another two hours. Say what you will about Munkey Juice, it probably won’t be ambivalent.
The band formed in 1995, led by brothers Nelson and Robert (aka Bubba) Heise, and played as a percussion-less duo for most of its existence, releasing four full-length albums that were recorded on the brothers’ four-track. The band took a turn for the serious when drummer Stacie Archer was brought in and Munkey Juice recorded Her Absence in a real studio.
The band elicits such strong reactions because, even with these recent concessions to professionalism, they still don’t care what anyone thinks. Ironically, a few tracks actually come fleetingly close to striking a chord with the garage rock set, but like Frank Black (whom the band obviously adores), they inject enough surrealism and momentum-stopping hijinks to fuck it all up. Still, as about half of Zanesville would agree, that’s not a bad thing at all.



Her Absence is MJ's first studio album, and features Levi Funk on trumpet.

Munkey Juice:
Nelson Heise: Vocals, Guitars, Keyboard, Mandolin, and Harmonica
Robert Heise: Vocals, Bass, Guitars, Keyboard
Stacie Archer: Drums

Munkey Juice is based out of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The band has been around in one-way or another since 1995. This band is led by Nelson Heise and his brother Robert (Bubba) they have produced eight albums. Munkey Juice's influences include The Velvet Underground, Pixies, CCR, Kinks, They Might Be Giants, and Cracker.