Spirit of the Beehive is a band I’m just enamored with… they have such a unique, interesting take on music and art that really jives with all of my interests. Interesting in the same way Q and Not U and Beauty Pill were interesting, or what draws me and many others to Radiohead. Spirit are often called noise rock, but I don’t think that even does them justice. I’ve also seen “cinematic” and “fever dream” to describe their music. That I do agree with…
My on-ramp for SotB was Entertainment, Death which I didn’t hear until 2022, the year after it was released. Immediately interested once I finally listened, I then dug into their back catalog: Hypnic Jerks (2018) and Pleasure Suck (2017). Entertainment, Death was a leap forward for the band, but the new record surpasses that…
The new album mixes indie rock, Dischord bands, noise elements, EDM, orchestral elements, shoegaze, slowcore, and psychedelic rock/pop… sometimes all within the same song. It IS a fever dream and it’s glorious. They are without a doubt some of the most interesting and exciting songwriters in rock music today.
My only ask is you dedicate the time to listen to the entire album, not just dip in and out for 20-30 seconds at a time while you skip from track to track. It will be worth it.
Favorite tracks:
- “Let the Virgin Drive”
- “1/500”
- “I’ve Been Evil”
- “Stranger Alive”
- “Duplicate Spotted”.