Formed as a side project by Richie Egan whilst part of The Redneck Manifesto,[3] they have released five albums to date; Cosmosphere (2003), The Monkeys in the Zoo Have More Fun Than Me (2004), Ritual (2008), Ocean of Frequency (2011), and This Chemical Sea (2015).

The band have performed at festivals and events such as Glastonbury, Electric Picnic, Lovebox and Hard Working Class Heroes and provided support for The Flaming Lips at Belsonic in Belfast in August 2008.

The Monkeys in the Zoo Have More Fun Than Me's opening track, "Floating", became a popular single on late night alternative music radio shows and attracted the attention of Brendan Benson during a visit to Dublin.

Benson now covers the track whilst performing live with his band The Raconteurs, as do the Belgian bastard pop duo Soulwax during their DJ sets.

[5] Egan has been part of many bands from a young age, and spent his youth experimenting with four-track tape recorders and sounds.

[1][7][8] By 2003 Egan had developed Jape after spending a week at the family home of fellow Redneck, Niall Byrne, in Avoca, County Wicklow.

[2] Memories of a childhood show by heavy metal band Mastodon led him to write the song "Phil Lynott".

[9] However, the album received airplay on national radio on shows such as Donal Dineen's Here Comes the Night on Today FM.

It enjoyed much more success than its predecessor and contains the well-known single "Floating" which was given much airplay on late night alternative radio shows.

Benson immediately requested a copy of the album[5] and then praised Jape in The Guardian – however, the newspaper spelt it "Jabe".

[16] Despite V2 folding in October 2007,[11] the EP release went ahead and a nationwide tour of Ireland followed to promote what was the band's major label debut.

There was a host of Irish and European dates and festival appearances to promote the album in June 2008, including performances at the Róisín Dubh in Galway and Vicar Street and the Road Records music store in Dublin.

[11][21] Jape then opened for The Flaming Lips at Belsonic in Belfast on 11 August 2008[12][22] and performed a free show as part of Heineken Green Spheres in Cork alongside Donal Dineen on 19 November 2008.

[24] Tony Clayton-Lea, writing in The Irish Times beforehand, said: "Suffice to say that if this whippet-thin geezer isn't one of the highlights of this year's Picnic then that's it—we give up".

[46] Ocean of Frequency was nominated for the Choice Music Prize in January 2012 and was announced as winner on 8 March 2012, making Jape the first act to have won the award more than once.