Free The Bees - Bees (The)

...(HMV - £4.49 - And free P&P! - Cheapest I found ***UPDATE*** HMV have now hiked this up to £8!) and the album landed on the doormat.

So what are The Bees all about? The band are all from the Isle of Wight and this album was recorded at the famous Abbey Road studios in London (another band named after insects recorded there). It sounds as if they have specifically recorded on technology from that earlier period to get a more authentic ...
...references on their sleeves (early Beatles, earlier Stones, Love, The Animals and a host of others).

For me, when listening to this album I get snatches of Saint Etienne (circa Foxbase Alpha) and Dodgy (though don't let that put you off). Also a more restrained The Coral (i.e. the tuneful stuff). Obviously you'll have heard it all before. There is nothing new here, but then sometimes you want to hear new things, and other times you ... more

First a confession... This is The Bees second album, their first being 'Sunshine Hit Me', which was released in 2002. I do not own the first album as I've only recently discovered the band, and the song I was after (Chicken Payback) is on this album. From looking at reviews on other sites I see that a lot of people regard this album as a step backwards for the band. So I am reviewing this as a Bees virgin, without any 'troublesome second album' nonsense to cloud my vision.

I first heard the Bees on Virgin radio a year or so back (probably 'Razor Cuts' with Pete Mitchell - sadly missed). I didn't know it was the Bees and spent the next 12 months desperately trying to find out what the infectious song was I had heard. The song I was after, as mentioned was Chicken Payback, an infectious early Stones kinda R&B tune. It sounded as if it was recorded in 1965 and I was very suprised to find out that it hadn't been.

And then I gave up looking... Until an advert appeared on TV... Sure Deodorant (I think)... And Chicken Payback. I launched myself of the settee and checked one of those 'Music Off The Adverts' sites. Soon I knew who had created the song and which album it was on. So a swift look around the internet music sites (HMV - £4.49 - And free P&P! - Cheapest I found ***UPDATE*** HMV have now hiked this up to £8!) and the album landed on the doormat.

So what are The Bees all about? The band are all from the Isle of Wight and this album was recorded at the famous Abbey Road studios in London (another band named after insects recorded there). It sounds as if they have specifically recorded on technology from that earlier period to get a more authentic sound ('Homage' comes to mind). The band clearly wear their references on their sleeves (early Beatles, earlier Stones, Love, The Animals and a host of others).

For me, when listening to this album I get snatches of Saint Etienne (circa Foxbase Alpha) and Dodgy (though don't let that put you off). Also a more restrained The Coral (i.e. the tuneful stuff). Obviously you'll have heard it all before. There is nothing new here, but then sometimes you want to hear new things, and other times you want albums that are like comfortable shirts. This is a rather nice, tie-dyed, cozy shirt.

I can see this being on my stereo quite frequently over the summer (assuming we get a summer). It's that type of album. The Bees have set out to create a warm, festival friendly album (by the way this album is from 2004, but I'm sure it'll be rereleased on the back of the Sure advert) and have succeeded with style.

The quality of playing is also very strong. Vocals, provided by Kris Birkin, are spot on. He can do you an Eric Burdon, as easily as a Merseybeat. The Rythm section in particular are strong. Lots of exciting high register bass (a la 'Rubber Soul') and energetic, machine gun drumming, from Aaron Fletcher and Michael Clevett respectively. Lead guitar is also good, there are many lead solos snatches that are worthy of a raft of psychedelic late 60's vinyl. I must also mention that Hammond keyboard fans will also be well catered for (thanks to Warren Hampshire).

Standout tracks for me are, obviously, Chicken Payback, the very Coralesque, 'No Atmosphere' and Horsemen (great vocals and lead). One Glass Of Water is also a very strong track, strained (in a good way) vocals, and a big free-for-all, pub sing-a-long feel to it. The Russian is very similar to one of those jams Oasis used to stick on their albums. I Love You being the token slow one, not really my bag, but pretty inoffensive all the same.

So overall - Very good, especially at £4.49 (Unfortunately this is now £8 at the HMV site) - An absolute steal. On the evidence of this I will be getting the first album and looking out for future releases. Obviously people who are sick to death of anything to do with the 60's will want to steer well clear though!

Tracklisting:

1) These Are The Ghosts (3:08)
2) Wash In The Rain (3:38)
3) No Atmosphere (3:48)
4) Horsemen (3:27)
5) Chicken Payback (3:12)
6) The Russian (5:36)
7) I Love You (4:35)
8) The Start (2:19)
9) Hourglass (4:45)
10) Go Karts (3:43)
11) One Glass Of Water (2:41)
12) This Is The Land (3:01)
 

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