Retro CD Review - Free The Bees By The Bees
Every now and then I intend to review some of the albums that are special to me, that I've enjoy listening too over the years.
To start off it's my perfect Summer album "Free The Bees" by The Bees. The band I believe is one of the most under-rated UK bands around at the moment, this could be partly due to the fact the band are pretty low key even though their music has been used in adverts on TV. The album produced by Paul Butler, recorded at Abbey Road studios and was the follow up to their début album "The Sunshine Hit Me".
Too me it is the quintessential summer album, it has humour and quirkiness, it has some fantastic guitar and keyboard riffs, close vocal harmonies, well produced horn sections and a really punchy chaotic percussion rhythm that gives the album a nice bouncy feel. The songs have a real retro sound, but they don't feel stale or kitsch, there's a feel of variety and texture that's partly due to the fact the band are multi instrumentalists and all take turns on various instruments throughout the album, obviously the band have a wide variety of influences, which manifest their way onto the record, from straight laced sixties rock, to a bit of Jazz, Ska, and lo-fi chill out.
The one part of the album that is lacking would be the lyrics, it is fairly obvious to me that the band focus on the music first and foremost, so if you're looking for profound statements you're better grabbing a Bob Dylan or Smiths record. For me I really couldn't give a monkeys, Songs like "These are the ghosts", "Horsemen", "I Love you", "Hourglass" and "Go Karts" are such perfect summer pop melodies that they could be singing phone book entries over the top of them and I'd still love them!
This album won't be for everyone, some people may find the melodies a little sweet and not confrontational enough, but for me I can't wait for the warm weather to arrive so I can wind the windows down in my crappy car and blast The Bees all over Dorset.
Vrmmmmm Vrmmmmm!
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