Bees Deluxe make a form of music that includes jazz/funk/psych/Latin/groove and, most especially BLUES. But it isn’t a case of “this track has Latin influence”, no, every track has all those influences, but it makes for something that is genuinely fresh sounding while being as old as the hills. Very disturbing. But across all 13 tracks I found myself digging the music enormously, this is a class album.
The music, for me, has the same impact that Steely Dan did with their first couple of albums. They play very tight Blues that sounds as though they are jamming but this is very tight, and the playing is absolutely superb. Line up is Carol Band - keyboards, vocals and harmonica, Poogie Bell - drums (Nitro), Allyn Dorr - bass and vocals, Jared Egan - guitar (Sharkskin Suit), Joe Egan - keyboards and mentoring, James Gildea - bass and vocals, Paul Giovine - drums and percussion, Adam Sankowski - bass guitar, Conrad Warre - guitar, bass, vocals, trumpet, and keys.
There is also the sardonic/satirical attitude of Frank Zappa, some of this is absolutely spiteful.
It’s difficult to pigeonhole a band like this, so file under unique, it’s one of those albums I’ll be enjoying for years to come
