listening man

2007's not even here yet, and we've already heard tastes of great new records from the Arcade Fire, Deerhoof, DMST, !!!, Menomena, LCD Soundsystem, Explosions in the Sky, and the list goes on. Well, you can add the Bees' (aka a Band of Bees) new LP Octopus to that bunch. I was a huge fan of their debut LP, Sunshine Hit Me, and subsequently completely ignored their follow-up, Free The Bees, for no apparent reason (is it any good?)

But like Sunshine, Octopus successfully pulls together the best elements of '60s and '70s dub, reggae, psych pop, and perhaps most impressively, vintage soul. Derivative, probably, but when it sounds as authentic as "Listening Man," I'll take it. Highly recommended:

The Bees Listening Man mp3

You can download the first single from Octopus, "Left Foot Stepdown," now from iTunes.

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