Album Review: Free The Bees by The Bees [Band of Bees]

Band of Bees second album Free the Bees is a rollicking, breathtaking romp through the '60s, calling to mind classic band after classic band but also conjuring up a modern and original sound of their own. "These Are the Ghosts," the CD's opening track, gives us echoes of the psychedelic-era Small Faces, the Kinks circa Village Green Preservation Society, and even, at times, Pink Floyd circa Piper at the Gates of Dawn. There are moments on "No Atmosphere" where they sound like the Small Faces quoting the Beatles obliquely from Rubber Soul, and elsewhere it suddenly sounds as though the ghost of George Harrison has stepped into the studio to throw in some licks from a White Album jam.

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It must be thrilling to possess as much talent and history as the six gentlemen who comprise A Band of Bees. To have the ear and the sensibilities and the skills to recreate a past that never was, to promote scene miscegenation that would have never crossed paths, to roam all over the history of rock and soul musics from 1964 to the early ’70s, picking off the parts that you don’t like as the vegetarian pulls pepperoni off a slice of pizza. These are enviable talents in the world of popular music today.

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