Free the Bees

iTunes Review

A Band of Bees hail from the Isle of Wight and trade in a peculiarly British brand of musical nostalgia that values aesthetics over content and clever songwriting over originality. Where Ray Davies once crafted tales of the British working class from the detritus of tin pan alley schmaltz and American R&B in order to express his longing for an era that never was, A Band of Bees are content to replicate the heady sounds of British psychedelia, directly copying the tricky tempo changes and childish whimsy of early Pink Floyd, late era Pretty Things, and Davies’ own Kinks. Yet despite their revivalist stance A Band of Bees are undeniably skilled at their craft, and when the trill harmonies and freakbeat guitars of the infectious “A Glass of Water” come singing over the hi-fi the listener will be hard pressed to believe that this music was recorded in 2007 rather than in 1967. Though one wants to fault A Band of Bees for their stubborn adherence to an outdated sound, their compositions are so winningly contrived that even the most inflexible of would-be critics will be forced to smile at Free the Bees’ vintage tones, sparkling melodies and cunning arrangements. And the album boasts at least one legitimate masterwork: the swooning ballad “I Love You” is a song of such beauty that it manages to transcend The Bees somewhat rote revivalism.