Artist

The Bees

Label

Virgin

Release date

19th March 2007

Genre

Indie pop

Isle Of Wight boys return to the groove on mixed bag third album

The location you record an album can have a large bearing on the quality of its results. For Isle Of Wight six-piece The Bees, geography appears the key to their success.

Recorded in their shed, outstanding debut album Sunshine Hit Me was awash with soul and ska-scorched melodies and a depth of sensitive songwriting that unexpectedly bagged the boys a Mercury Music Prize nomination. Then the band upped and left the island for Abbey Road studios to lay down sophomore effort Free The Bees. Expectations were high, but a detached lack of intimacy and a move towards a more straightforward Sixties psych-pop sound made this second album a disappointment.

Thankfully, The Bees headed back to the Isle Of Wight and moved into a new basement studio to record Octopus. Not quite the shed, then, and while it might not hit the consistent heights of Sunshine Hit Me, more familiar surroundings seem to have engineered a partial return to form.

As on that acclaimed debut, The Bees are at their best when their rhythm section takes the lead and the band hit a sun-kissed groove. Consequently, Left Foot Stepdown's intricate dub basslines and brass fanfares and Got To Let Go's funk via Mariachi band shuffle are a joy, while the spacious soul of forthcoming single Listening Man recalls Sam Cooke at his most yearning - it's that good.

Elsewhere, a continued fascination with Sixties beat groups and hippyish psychedelia result in other tracks sadly resembling Beatles or Byrds outtakes, making Octopus a mere semi-return to former glories. For their fourth album, the shed beckons once more.

Also try: The Bees - Sunshine Hit Me The Byrds - Younger Than Yesterday Trojan Records compilations