Known for their outspoken sensibilities and high-octane performances, rising Melbourne alternative rock group Zen Monkee write music that encapsulates tones of garage rock, fuzzed-out psychedelia, and blues.

 

Renowned for their chaotic behaviour on stage, Chris Beltrame (guitar/vocals), Anthony Beltrame (guitar), Harrison Leitch (drums) and Luke Shinton (bass) perform live with gusto and fury. Released through Citrus Records in November 2020, the quartet delivered their self-titled debut album—a homage to blues-titans such as Cream, Canned Heat, and Jimi Hendrix. The 10-track debut LP spans the many emotions that arise throughout all stages of life, ranging from relationships to rebellions, striking a resonant chord with listeners. 

​

Following the prolonged Australian COVID-19 lockdowns, the beginning of 2023 saw the group return to the local music scene, foraying further into the alternative/psych rock scene. Three new singles—‘Another Tower Will Fall’, ‘Red Flags’, and ‘Roll Of The Dice’—were released across the first half of the year, followed by an Australian tour comprising shows across Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, and Adelaide. 

 

Towards the end of 2023, October saw the release of Zen Monkee's second album, 'CAPITAL THEORY'. The group's second album was recorded at Aviary Studios in just six days. Written largely in a studio apartment above a local café on Sydney Road in Brunswick. The songs on Capital Theory address the injustice, corruption, and manipulation inherent within governments and businesses all over the world.

 

Their sophomore concept album embodies elements of psychedelia, punk, experimental rock and pop, all mixed into one boiling cauldron. Tracks such as 'Murdoch and the Moral Panic' and 'Capital Theory' highlight to the listener the often-unnoticed injustices and corruption of the 21st century. 

 

"Societies define us by race, wealth, gender, and nationality, and it invites division right from our first breath through no fault of our own. We fail to see that we’re all the same, just reinvented over language and culture", explains lead singer and guitarist Chris Beltrame. 

 

The front man of Zen Monkee adds “With a greed too great to satiate, these collars exploit our planet and its population for their own personal gain/satisfaction. How is any of this Justified? Governments and businesses reap our wages and generate the terms in which individuals interact within their own borders and markets. CAPITAL THEORY is our exploration into this question, and the answers are as scathing as you would imagine."​​