A Band of Bees

A Band of Bees sound like musical castaways from some remote tropical island hideaway. Though they hail from the Isle of Wight (hardly a tropical paradise), they're still only too happy to be marooned far from the shifting currents of contemporary pop. Their third record, Octopus, is a thick dollop of hazy, ramshackle optimism. It clocks in at just 40 minutes, but you'll swear you've been under for days.

On most of the tracks, steady breakbeats and lounging basslines hold sway, never rushing the leisurely chorus of vocals. Humid wiffs of tropicalia waft through these lush productions, but the brass rarely rises above a wistful, enticing croon. Frequently these sun-drenched retro sounds are joined by bongos, keys and guitars. Occasionally, A Band of Bees switch it up with detours into other genres, but they always maintain a cheery vibe. On "Listening Man" they enjoy a leisurely two-step with the ghost of first-wave Jamaican ska. With "Hot One!" they offer a chilled-out take on British invasion fuzziness—think the Kinks on quaaludes.

All these unhurried, shambling jams make Octopus a very consistent record — sometimes too consistent. The 'Bees are not sailing their ship into uncharted waters here, and occasionally you wish they'd try some more daring maneuvers on this pleasure cruise. That said, there is unlikely to be a more summery record this season.

—Toby Warner
06.20.07

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 á 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). ~ John Bush, All Music Guide