Mr. Hurley & Die Pulveraffen (The Powder Monkeys) is a German folk band from Osnabrück, consisting of four members: Mr Hurley, Buckteeth Bannock, Der Einäugige Morgan and Pegleg Peggy. The band sees itself as a pirate band inspired by the early modern period.
A fearless and daring crew of adventurous pirates who sail under the flag of the no less legendary Captain Blake on the legendary pirate ship Lightning. However, the most adventurous is certainly the gunner crew around Mr. Hurley. In 2009, the captain had had enough of their escalating escapades and sent them on shore leave to let off steam. Accustomed as gunners to making a lot of noise, however, they continued the habit on land and now board the stages and pubs on land – using their instruments as devastatingly as their guns at sea.
They mainly play at medieval festivals, harbour festivals and music festivals. For example, from 2013 to 2016 the band performed at the Wacken Open Air on the Wackinger Stage. In 2014 they played at the Festival-Mediaeval and in 2016 at the Summer Breeze Open Air, where they attracted 1000 spectators on the Camel Stage.
In November 2014 the EP Plankrock was released, for which songs from the older albums were re-recorded as rock versions with electric guitar and drums. The band was supported by three guest musicians. In the spring of 2016, the band embarked on their first tour, performing in seven cities under the name AggroShanty.
In July 2017, the band held a live-streamed concert alongside Schandmaul and Versengold, with each band covering a song by the other two. In August 2017, the album Tortuga was released, with which the band reached number 5 in the German album charts, the album Leviathan (August 2019) was number 7. The album Seemannsgrab (March 2021) gave the band their highest chart position to date – No. 3.
