The Bees

Album review

Stalwart, left-field indie rockers Frog Eyes called it quits after the release of 2018's Violet Psalms, with Carey Mercer, Melanie Campbell, and Shyla Seller splintering off into the like-minded, nervy art-rock combo Soft Plastics. That same trio re-emerged under the Frog Eyes banner in 2022 with The Bees, a reliably unsettling ten-song set that's surprisingly laid-back, by Frog Eyes standards, that is. Carey Mercer's panic attack verbosity and fever dream storytelling remain the group's primary weapon, but Campbell and Seller know how and when to rein him in, which they do with great aplomb on nuanced cuts like "When You Turn On the Light" and "Everything Dies." Measured and melancholic may be the sonic throughline when it comes to tone, but Mercer and company are still plenty capable of penning convulsive psych-rock bangers like the taut and tuneful "I Was an Oligarch" and the shifty, garage rock-leaning "He's a Lonely Song." The melodies are more sharply drawn as well, with the elliptical opener "Rainbow Stew" and the dreamy "Scottish Wine" leading the earworm charge. Still, The Bees is very much a Frog Eyes production -- the epic, textural wonder of the title cut utilizes every weapon in the band's creative arsenal -- and overall enjoyment largely depends on how one discerns the group's myriad idiosyncrasies. Having said that, longtime fans will undoubtedly revel in the discordant beauty of it all.

© James Christopher Monger /TiVo