Bee Bee Sea
Day Ripper
Wild Honey Records [2020]
Italian trio Bee Bee Sea have returned with their third LP, Day Ripper, and if a title could ever capture the overall mood of a record this band has nailed it. Day Ripper is a super high energy indie rocker that jams incredibly hard as it dips in and out of Brit-pop, garage and punk for its full 34 minutes and I can gladly say I soaked up every enjoyable minute of their edge, tension, and manic attitude.
With the blending of genres that Bee Bee Sea bring to the album it also is important to know that another piece of Day Ripper that makes it so engaging is that the band supplies consistent Beatlesque choruses. This familiar sound is something the group has retained since their early days starting out when they covered sixties classics from the Beatles, The Who, and The Stones. Clearly, they have now developed their own sound but if I were to pick out a group that Bee Bee Sea sound like today, it would be early Supergrass as singer Wilson Wilson and Gaz Coombes have a similar pitch. But for every Brit-pop glam number like “Be Bop Palooza” there is the guitar muscle in “Drags Me Down” that falls more in line with modern punk bands on the Dirtnap Records label like Mind Spiders or the Steve Adamyk Band. Or on “Guacamole” the band takes a very Dandy Warhols approach with some vocal effects that keeps the track in your head. What makes all these angles come together is the relentless energy that Bee Bee Sea deliver. I guarantee you will be tired after hearing this album!
If you have been following this band or have their earlier records you will find Day Ripper a game changer. The band was always solid but had a much more garage rock approach on their earlier albums. Now, Bee Bee Sea sound like they have grown and expanded overnight as they have perfectly executed moving outside their past comfort zone. The result is a record that never slows down, consistently brings something new to your ears and makes music chaos fun, catchy and memorable.
Key Tracks: “Daily Jobs” / “Drags Me Down” / “Day Ripper”
Artists With Similar Fire: Supergrass / The Interpreters / Arctic Monkeys
Bee Bee Sea Website
Bee Bee Sea Facebook
Wild Honey Records
-Reviewed by Thomas Wilde
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