Review by John Bush
The most intriguing collective of multi-instrumentalists since the Beta Band first began mixing an unholy array of accompaniment, the Bees (or A Band of Bees in America) channel some of the same '60s influences on Octopus as on their two previous records, and a few new ones as well. Fortunately, as usual, listeners who couldn't care less about playing a game of spot-the-influence are rewarded just as much as those who do; Octopus presents ten nuggets of effortless throwback pop, laid-back and breezy but tightly melodic. A trio of straightforward pop pleasers begins the album, all with the same jaunty, freewheeling character as a Beta Band jam (or a Kinks pastorale, for that matter). After a pair of marvelous detours -- "Got to Let Go" is organ-combo rock with a Caribbean flair a la Georgie Fame, while "Listening Man" echoes the high points of blue-eyed soul in the Rascals -- the Bees are back on track, although perhaps even more mellow than on the first half. Although not a concept album, Octopus does often return to the nautical theme (or more generally, travel away from home) that's de rigueur for indie rock during the 2000s, but here too, the Bees know that too much concept and not enough music is a bad trade-off. Without this set of brilliant songs or the masterful way they mix and match their instruments, the Bees wouldn't sound half as interesting as they do; they wouldn't be anything more than a retread of their '60s influences (or, perhaps, their retread of XTC's '60s influences).
A Band of Bees
Octopus
[Virgin/Astralwerks; 2007]
Rating: 7.9
Like the Beta Band without all the artsy detours and experimental tendencies, A Band of Bees (just the Bees outside the U.S.) are a pop music recycling plant, melting down the 1960s and 70s and pressing them into something new. Their steadfast loyalty to up-front pop puts them in a bizarre place about halfway between the Betas and Dodgy, both of whom they occasionally resemble, but the quality of their material gives them the strength to stand on their own.
Originally a duo of multi-instrumentalists from the Isle of Wight, A Band of Bees these days is a sextet of multi-instrumentalists, and Octopus, their third album, spills over with psychedelic playfulness and splotches of vintage r&b. The album's worldview seems to be summed up in one of its own song titles, "(This Is for the) Better Days", which, judging from the production, occurred sometime between 1965 and 1974. The lead guitar has a bit of a Stax/Steve Cropper sound, rooted to a funky drumbeat and Rhodes groove, and the big harmonies on the chorus nod to freakbeat and the moment when British psych was just about to tip into early prog.
The band's r&b edge is a key component of several of the album's best songs, including "Listening Man", which retrofits a Memphis backbeat with horns and sublimely loose three-part harmony. "Left Foot Stepdown" does even better, tying a tremendous brass arrangement with a Spanish tinge to a choppy beat and some superb organ playing. The harmony vocals slot in when the horn part is about halfway to Seville, and the band dubs out the breakdown after the second chorus.
Plenty of bands seem to forget that having memorable instrumental parts makes the vocal parts more memorable, but that's not a lesson lost on the Bees, who consistently hook you before even opening their mouths. "Got to Let Go" has a killer organ riff from the Rod Argent playbook, which it echoes in the sax-heavy horn arrangement. The drumbeat is a relentless modified shuffle that sweeps everything swiftly along.
There are very few misplaced steps on the album-- from the opening slide guitar riff all the way to end it gives you things to latch onto. Closer "End of the Street" is the weakest offering, mostly for the fact that it tries too hard to be eccentric and loopy. But a poorly conceived ending can't obscure that Octopus is a fun, supremely engaging album of modern psych-pop.
-Joe Tangari, July 05, 2007
Link-arrowMySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thebeesofficial
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