A Can Of Bees

Sound DNA

• Rock
• Psych Rock

• jangly
• whimsical
• psychedelic

About

The Soft Boys eventually gave birth to Katrina & The Waves and the solo career of Robyn Hitchcock. In their own time, they were an underground phenomenon whose legacy influenced the ‘80s college-radio sound. Their 1979 debut album,<i>A Can of Bees</i>, has guitars that are snarling and Hitchcock-ready with a voice that can phrase a lyric. “Give It to the Soft Boys” states “Feel like asking a tree for an autograph / And I feel like making love to a photograph” with a true sense of purpose. “Human Music” features chiming guitars that sound nicked from the Beatles’ <i>Revolver</i>, with a reflective tone that sounds like the Byrds and Syd Barrett making musical love. “Leppo and the Jooves,” “Do The Chisel” and “Sandra’s Having Her Brain Out” are infectious neo-psychedelic numbers that position Hitchcock as a mad scientist breaking test tubes in the lab. The version of John Lennon’s “Cold Turkey” is strong and deliberate. This 2010 reissue includes a John Cale-like cover of “Heartbreak Hotel,” along with fantastic bonus cuts such as “Blues In the Dark” and “When I Was a Kid.”

via Apple Music

Tracklist

Credits