The Bees – Listening Man
I've always liked bands that don't use the "psychedelic" label as an excuse to make loosely constructed waves of sound or to jam into oblivion. UK's The Bees may have a sound rooted in the 60's, but their songs are heartwarming and creative.
The Bees are from the Isle of Wight and have been serving up their brand of throwback Brit-rock since they recorded Sunshine Hit Me in frontman Paul Butler's garden shed. They've recently three albums and achieved a moderate level of success with songs in several UK commercials and gigs opening for Oasis and Madness.
I was first introduced to The Bees through When You Awake, a favorite blog of mine. I quickly dug through their collection and discovered a very sincere band whose influences come from various genres of the 1960's. To simply call them "psychedelic" is unfair; The Bees serve up Motown, surf rock, Simon and Garfunkel, and the Yardbirds in equal measure. Each member of the sextet is crazy talented. They all play a variety of instruments and completely share songwriting duties (which helps to explain the varied sounds).
Their new album, Every Step's A Yes drops tomorrow on Fiction Records. It's hazy and heartwarming and sounds great on this warm, fall day. "I Really Need Love" is the first video from the album, and it's a great track with a chorus of buzzing woo's and aah's, swirling sitar, and lovely lyrics.
I also included "Listening Man" off the album Octopus because it's an awesome song that's straight out of Motown.