Reviews
A Band Of Bees
Free The Bees
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Add to del.ico.us.Review Date: 2005-10-11
A Band Of Bees sound remarkably similar to the Beatles, and 60's music in general. If you didn't know it was a 2005 release, one could easily mistake it for being an album from that generation. I say that upfront as a disclaimer, for two reasons.
1. If you are the type of person who bashes current music that sounds too much like retro, or oldies then move on to the next band.
2. If you don't like 60's music, and hate on it without ever giving it a chance then again move on to the next band.
If you have made it past that little disclaimer then good for you! This means that you are not close minded when it comes to music, and that you realize the subtle difference between hacking and ripping off 60's music, and utilizing that sound and revitalizing it in ways that never could or would have been done in the 60's. A Band Of Bees, are much like Nic Armstrong & The Thieves in this regard. Both bands could be mistaken as not bringing anything new to the table, when in actuality that is far from the case. Sure, these guys are clearly huge fans of the Beatles but they have a far more obvious garage rock influence than the Beatles, and way more of a countrified jangle. Don't get your panties in a knot, i'm not saying they are better than the Beatles. Just... different.
"Free The Bees" is a great album to just throw on while your doing something, when you don't want anything too deep, you just want to rock out and enjoy the grooves and not care if the lyrics are absurd. Under a microscope these songs would be exposes, but you know what.... a lot of the greatest bands to ever exist would be exposed under extreme scrutiny. A Band Of Bees would even admit to that. They make music that is fun to listen to, catchy as fuck, and has a strong replay value. Much like Kings of Leon, The Hives, or Franz Ferdinand. Onwards we go, to the songs.
"These Are The Ghosts" kicks off the disc, and it does so with a more distorted, slowed down, rock sound than a lot of the other tunes the album has to offer. Don't be mislead, this is a good thing. I really like this song, the super slow motion delivery of the chorus somehow works, and makes it much more catchy than it would if it were fast paced like say "Chicken Payback". The layered vocals, and the jangling background combine to create an upbeat sound even if the vocals sound rather monotone. The drummer isn't laid back at all though, he is pounding away for the entire song and perhaps his efforts alone is the reason why the song never drags.
A more suitable song when talking about the rest of the album is "No Atmosphere", which brings to mind 60's rock... but not the totally serious 60's rock. Moreso, it emits comparisons to the tongue in cheek somewhat comical rock songs, that told stories, and combined singing with almost sing talking against awesome instrumentation. This song in a current context could closes tbe compared to Kings Of Leon. A Band Of Bees use the piano, along with keyboards, and i am pretty sure bells of some sort to add to the hodge-podge that is "No Atmosphere". It is easy to hear this and just call it fun, but they have done a lot of work to create this whacked out loveable sound that is present here. Just because a song is fun, doesn't necessarily mean it is easy to create.
I challenge anyone to listen to this album and not end up agreeing that "Chicken Payback" is by far the greatest song on the album, and maybe one of the better ones of the year. This is a new oldie for the ages. Remember how it used to be cool to make up a song about a kinda dance... and the entire song was all about how to do the dance, utilizing ridiculous verbage and sometimes these songs would spawn a dance craze. Well.... that is what this song is. I have no fucking clue how to do the Chicken Payback, but the song was a huge hit in America although never got a sniff here. I'm sure the video followed the above format, and maybe even had some people doing the Chicken Payback. It is a phenomenon of music history how a song like "The Twist" could come out and have an entire nation doing a dance and loving the same song. Something I never got to experience, but listening to this song and using your imagination is as close as we can get currently to experiencing it.
This album has been out a long time in Europe but only a few months in North America, our version has a few bonus tracks. One of these tracks is called "It Isn't Exact". You can tell why this song was a demo, it is very different from the remainder of the album. This plays almost like a folk song. A lot softer, and featuring acoustic almost classical guitar, and muted drums. Like all of the songs, it still keeps true to the bands remarkable sense of rythm. The album actually ends better do to the two bonus songs, as it gradually tones down from the exuberant upbeat sound of the original closing number.
None of the songs are lacklustre enough to point out and analyze their shortcomings, but the reason I haven't bit the bullet and bought the album yet is that not enough are standout tracks. Other than "Chicken Payback", and "These Are The Ghosts" nothing strikes me as something I would want to pull off the shelf and listen to a few years down the road. "Free The Bees" I have read reviews calling it a time capsule, and I love that comparison. It really allows the listener to briefly experience what a new record must have been like in the 60's. Definitely worth a listen, and just some casual research on the net tells me lots of people adore this album. Maybe i'm wrong, but to me it is good. Nothing more, nothing less.
Songs to download: "These Are The Ghosts", "No Atmosphere", "Chicken Payback", "It Isn't Exact"
Score: 7.45
- Dan