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ALBUM PROFILES
 Not The Bees! - "knees"
Sometimes, in all facets of life, you have to go back home to find out where you’re going. A return home could be to merely reminisce, but it could also be a refresher; a return to a simpler time and place. Home could be a concrete place, but just maybe it could be a certain time and a certain sound. There are times when we rebel against home, we leave and come back and this is a lifelong battle that we are faced with.
But what is home? Home is as much an old, familiar, comfortable sound as it is an old, familiar, comfortable place in the imagination. On Knees, the debut EP from Jersey City based Not The Bees, released by RTF Records, that battle of leaving and coming back runs rampant throughout. Musically leaning heavy on the influence of early-to-mid-90’s New Jersey pop punk, while vocally sounding of an early Brian Fallon, Not The Bees have enough pop hooks and catchy lyrics wrapped around a sound of despair to make this 7 song EP one of the best you will hear out of New Jersey this year. Knees opens strong with the explosive “Hey, Who Wants to Take Me to the Hospital?”, a song about leaving, yet leaving with hope, and it has the requisite classic pop punk “whoa whoas” that always make you feel ok. The next song, “So It Goes...and So On...” takes an homage to the pop punk practice of using movie quotes, this time allowing Lloyd Christmas to call out our beloved home state. This also may be the very best song on the EP, lyrically strong with lines like “I found out that giving up isn’t half as hard as giving in/Consider our salvation a work in progress”. It ends with the endearingly recognizable Jersey sound that you know well, fast and sad but somewhat comforting, with the lines “And if I fall from grace with you/bow your head and laugh as loud as you can, to the dark/of New Jersey’s empty night”, which is also a nod to Tiltwheel's song "Texas 10". The third song on the EP is “Behold a Pale Kid”, and if you’re not already thinking of The Break, the band itself are name dropped in the first verse, and just for good measure, the chorus has a Lanemeyer feel to it. Following is “Needles”, in which it is suggested that we “Forget this place and everyone in it” and “Pretty Maggie Money-Eyes” where we “Never thought we felt so far away”. On “Cinderblock, Accelerator, Cliff”, the theme once again is “home”, and this one is considerably faster than the previous songs while maintaining that classic 90’s New Jersey sound. Knees closes as strong as it begins with “A Tale of Ordinary Madness”, which culminates with singer Joe Allocco asking “Am I home?”, going as far as seemingly losing his voice at the end. Knees is definitely a feel good album. It does indeed take us home, and it ignites the intangible flame of comfort and safety. It feels good to be back for a little while, until the inevitable battle of leaving haunts our souls again. But if Not The Bees’ capturing of the sound of home has taught us anything, it’s that we never win that battle, and that’s ok. Not The Bees are home. Knees will be available for tape purchase/download on October 14th here: notthebeesnj.bandcamp.com/ Not The Bees will be playing a record release show on October 14th at Warren American Legion with Algernon Cadwallader, Banquets, Bonjour and Pumps. Knees is being released by RTF Records: www.rtfrecords.com - Joseph Regal Genre: Punk Members: Joe Allocco - Guitar, vocals Jon Barnes - Guitar, vocals Steve Fusco - Bass, vocals Mike Pushkin - Drums Hometown: New Providence, NJ Description: "Rough around the edges melodic DIY punk from North Jersey. For fans of Jawbreaker, Hot Water Music, Crimpshrine, etc." Current Location: Jersey City, NJ Influences: The Break, Tiltwheel, Jawbreaker, Face to Face, Foo Fighters, Strung Out, Propagandhi |