For a while now, we've been pushing artists that are more electronic-based. Regardless why that's the case, we haven't forgotten our penchant for other, more traditional genres, and today, our craving for slower, steady, and alternative-rooted rock and roll is satisfied with Brooklyn-rooted two-piece She Keeps Bees' contemporary and lighthearted sound that will certainly appeal to the genre's grassroots population. The band has been held with high praise in the past with their previous self-released LPs being compared to the works of The White Stripes as whole, and the soft-kissed vocals of Jessica Larrabee, themselves acclaimed to the kind PJ Harvey and Cat Power express. We’ve hypothesized, too, that her voice carries with it a daunting touch that mildly parallels that of pop icon Lana Del Rey (maybe the greatest compliment of them all), and here with the bands’ ten-part Eight Houses, we've their fifth LP release that further hones in on their sound. With tracks like “Owl,” we notice a style that doesn’t seek our attention all at once, nor with intensely catchy jams, but rather, an effort that grows on us with each listen, leading to a gradually satisfying final product. The guitar sections prove bright and innovative even in the background where they sit, and we really can’t get enough of the additional instrumental inclusions employed in each track. Backed by the light snare-centric percussion provided by Andy LaPlant, additional favorite, “Radiance”, boasts a laid-back sonic agenda that features a few stringy synths to distinguish its rather melancholic and intriguing sonic space, and last pick (and album-opener) “Feather Lighter" seems to suggest that the band needs no heavy editing, nor radical effects laid over their music, to produce a hit. We see three basic components—vocals, guitar, and drums—littered throughout the project, and for Bees, that’s all there needs to be to garner our admiration. The two have left a few tracks open for streaming on their Bandcamp, but we’d certainly recommend purchasing the entirety of the LP on iTunes. After a few streams of the available efforts, you’ll be racing to grab your copy of the work.
She Keeps Bees