"In a town so dull and stuck in the past as Colchester, you would expect the local music scene to be an interesting reaction to all that. Desert Monkey are one of the better examples of what this town has to offer. When the Soundhouse isn’t putting on balding fading stars or karaoke tributes, it acts as a showcase for local talent, and most of this talent is content with sounding like an American radio rock band. Although there are some clear American rock and grunge influences in Desert Monkey’s sound, they actually do the rare thing of creating their own style out of it. It is always refreshing to hear a band who don’t sound like everyone else, but it does make it hard to put down in writing. Desert Monkey can’t be written off as just another heavy rock band because they have too many songs that you can dance too, although the fiercer songs refuse to be ignored. The shifting key and tempo changes in songs like opener Balance keep your attention, again it’s something different and not too common. It doesn’t take too much imagination to picture a track like Concrete being played on the radio, along with a few others that are beginning to deserve wider attention. If Desert Monkey can get out of Colchester and convert larger audiences then there could be no stopping them. They possess a talent and confidence that is way too big for a group of 18 year olds. All this without mentioning the giant dancing fairy."

("Do Something Pretty"-review of Desert Monkey's gig Colchester Soundhouse Monday 29th December 2003)