A Band Of Bees - Sunshine Hit Me

It makes sense that two Englishmen from the Isle of Wight would make new music that sounds old. How? Well, what do two lifelong friends and musicians stuck on an isolated island do all day but study old records? As their biography states, Paul Butler and Aaron Fletcher, better known as A Band Of Bees, were simply allowed the opportunity to remove themselves from the money-hungry UK music scene. What I'm getting at is A Band Of Bees operate on that level where they actually enjoy making music, devoid of an urge to cash in on a trend. Their US debut, Sunshine Hit Me, is chock full of styles and evidently influenced by a lot of record digging. For an added touch of authenticity, Butler and Fletcher threw the samplers out the window and opted to record all instruments live. But, what takes the cake is that the duo recorded the album in a shed, in fact, "The Shed", their homemade studio located in the middle of a field for grazing sheep and cattle. Sunshine Hit Me opens with "Punchbag", a soulful romp replete with Rhodes organ and 70's horns. The second track, "Angryman", falls back on old-school funk, while "No Trophy" comes through like Jamaican reggae by way of The Beach Boys. And just when it doesn't seem like they could throw more styles in the pot, "Binnel Bay" flaunts some Tahitian influence through a wash of myriad percussive elements. Yet, the track that stands out the most is the cover of "A Minha Menina" by Os Muntates, a 60's Brazilian group that recombined many styles into their own. The track stands out because it's noticeably brighter than the rest, acting as part acoustic rave-up and part homage to a band that treaded similar ground nearly three decades ago. The track also acts to further contrast the progressively mellower mood the album takes in its latter half. Yet, the final track, a 70's-style, soul ballad, "Sky Holds The Sun", closes the album strong with its minimal-yet-catchy mantra ("I want to hold you like the sky holds the sun"). It would seem a schizophrenic set of songs such as Sunshine Hit Me wouldn't work, but it comes off without a hitch. The only thing wrong with the album is leaves us all guessing what A Band Of Bees will do next. If the US bonus track, "You Got To Leave", a British rocker with a Rolling Stones-esk chorus, is any indication of what's to come, then we have something completely different to look forward to. And I'm sure it will be great too. [www.astralwerks.com]