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Me Like Bees: Special treat for Arcade Fire/Modest Mouse fans
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I caught Me Like Bees when they played Rock Island Live in July. I’d seen their name around on Faceb...I caught Me Like Bees when they played Rock Island Live in July. I’d seen their name around on Facebook and had to check their music out, based on the name alone I was expecting something interesting. They do not disappoint.
With a quick listen their influences of Arcade Fire and Modest Mouse are widely apparent. I hesitate to compare bands in such a manner, but it’s such an obvious fit. The band lists those bands as influences anyway so I don’t think I’m out of line in my comparison.
In the description of their music they say that they aim to keep their melodies simple, and they do. But the music is still interesting, simple ? boring. Their songs are catchy, quirky, fun and danceable.
EP REVIEW IN BRIEF:
Iconica, off their EP, nicely balances an ascending lead riff over a slow beat, the lead vocals come in like a rhythmic schizophrenic that’s talking back to the voices in their head. The pacing of the chorus speeds up and if you’re not careful it could easily be lodged in your brain.
Devil’s Song, off the same EP, is a smooth song about stealing your soul (I’m probably wrong about that, but I said it anyway because I’m irresponsible). All of their songs seem to be a bit up tempo with a lot of energy, and with guitar parts that fall into the higher frequency of sound.
Good Machine seems less upbeat than their other songs with a slower going verse… but it’s still a fast song with hard hitting beat. This song sounds like it has a bit of a Radiohead influence to it.
I didn’t give Me Like Bees a thorough enough listen to write a thorough piece on their music. So overall: it’s great. They are a really fun band to watch live. For as much as they say their music is simple, it’s really not. There is a lot of stuff going on in each of their songs. The melodies are, as they say, simple. While I can’t at this time pick out a single remarkable thing about this band’s music, I don’t think this is because it is unremarkable. It is because they have so much going into the creation of each of their tracks. A lot of different sounds and dynamics, all mixing together to create something that is audibly pleasing–without being overwhelming or pretentious. Anyone that enjoys a catchy hook will dig this, and for the audiophiles digging deeper you will also be rewarded.
You should probably research this yourself. Go watch them tonight, and pick up an EP. I promise you will be delighted.
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Joplin export Me Like Bees packs a punch
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Joplin export Me Like Bees packs a punch
A A A Comments (3) By Danny Alexander Tuesday, Mar 15 2011...Joplin export Me Like Bees packs a punch
A A A Comments (3) By Danny Alexander Tuesday, Mar 15 2011
In early February, Me Like Bees wowed crowds at Coda and RecordBar with its dizzying mix of aggressive rock and grooving rhythms. The two-year-old Joplin band — three members have KC roots — is swinging back this way on March 23 to promote a self-titled debut that magically conducts its live electricity in recorded form. The Pitch sat down with singer and guitarist Luke Sheafer, guitarist Peter Burton, bassist Asher Poindexter and drummer Tim Cote.
The Pitch: Is Me Like Bees' infectious, eclectic mix the result of a conscious decision?
Luke Sheafer: It's very much a mix of our tastes. We've never sat down and said, Hey, let's write this kind of song. Pete comes up with a guitar part. I come up with a melody. We see what Asher comes up with on bass.
What sounds have affected your band's tastes?
Tim Cote: John French from Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band — my dad played nightclubs with those guys. Primus drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander, those industrial sounds. Drive Like Jehu's Mark Trombino: dirty, dry, progressive.
Asher Poindexter: [Who bassist] John Entwistle. On "Baba O'Riley," where he's firing those notes off like a machine gun, throwing in as much as he can in the space allotted. Also, Peter Gabriel's bassist, Tony Levin, who follows the melody with his bass.
Peter Burton: Riffs that pull you into the song. Smashing Pumpkins, too. I take that perfectionist, Billy Corgan work ethic with the guitar — the overdubs, the amount of articulation.
Sheafer: I was raised on the blues. Then I heard the White Stripes' "Ball and Biscuit." That stirred me up. I thought, Yeah, I want to do that.
What influences do you have in common?
All: Modest Mouse!
"Good Machine" — a song about a square, corporate character — is an interesting tune. What's behind that?
Sheafer: So much of it, for me, is what I'm trying to avoid by playing music, you know? I don't want to work my whole life for two weeks' paid vacation. At the same time, my parents provided for me. The song is not in any way looking down on that guy. It's really an expression of sympathy.
You have a surprisingly rich sound on this record for an independent debut. How did you get it?
Burton: Three of the songs were recorded at a friend's house in Kansas City. "Iconica," "Good Machine" and "The Devil's Song" were recorded at my school by one of my classmates, Austin Marti. He does a really good job, but it all took a long time.
You've got a core crowd that packs the house in Joplin at the Blackthorn. What should Kansas Citians expect from the live show?
Sheafer: The White Stripes messed me up because it was so good. We want to do that.
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Joplin's Me Like Bees delivers a rare kind of energy at the Riot Room
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Me Like Bees
Wednesday, March 23
The Riot Room
Better than: Any opener since Me Like Bees play...Me Like Bees
Wednesday, March 23
The Riot Room
Better than: Any opener since Me Like Bees played RecordBar or, before that, since Tony Ladesich and Kasey Rausch played those gorgeous Stones duets at Crosstown Station.
It may have been 9 p.m. on a Wednesday at the Riot Room, and only a third of the crowd had shown, but Me Like Bees' frontman Luke Sheafer and bass player Asher Poindexter had mischievous grins on their faces as the band drummed and strummed its way to a tuneless opening crescendo. The Joplin band immediately launched into the hard-rocking one-two punch of "The Devil's Song" and "Good Machine" -- buoyant funk rockers with the raw edges of punk and the weight of metal. Poindexter's whole body dipped, turned and rocked with the groove, while Sheafer addressed the mic with the intensity of a man whose life depends on making everyone in the room feel the music.
By the time the band eased into the quietly building storm of "Doubt," the several dozen people in the place formed a semicircle around the stage. After "Lazarus" (a song that features a lilting, delicate vocal over a massive reggae-flavored rhythm) came a hard-hitting, jubilant cover of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." The Me Like Bees version is big and bold, with Sheafer growling and the band maintaining the funky lift of the song with hard, heavy swings of rhythm.
The band blasted a hole somewhere in the back of the house by the insistent swamp blues of "She," a song that more than relishes, as any good blues should do -- lines like, "My baby has a sweet left hook" with ecstatic vocal calls answered by scorching guitar. The song revolved around a swelling bridge worthy of the Who before delivering its definitive closing punch.
The end of the short set featured two of the band's finest crowd-pleasers. "Mama Don't Know" worked its way up to giddy breaks where the band cried "na na na" over hand claps. "Iconica" closed things out with the kind of hormone-charged rave that got rock-and-roll records burned in the first place.
The band's two shows a month ago, at Coda and RecordBar, worked packed houses to various states of giddy excitement. That kind of interaction with a crowd fuels any band to play its best, and those were unforgettable shows. But last night's show at the Riot Room served as a truer test of the band. With a much smaller crowd -- all but obscured, no doubt, by the glare of stage lights -- this four-piece delivered a level of energy all too rare on any night in any club in Kansas City.
Critic's Bias: This band had me at hello two shows ago.
Critic's Notebook: I love the black electrical tape across the drum set that cries out, "Free Weezy"! That's musical solidarity!
Set List:
The Devil's Song
Good Machine
Doubt
Lazarus
Crazy
Joseph Jones
She
What Your Mama Don't Know
Iconica
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"Naked Trees," by Me Like Bees. It's slow-yet-upbeat rhythm and poetic lyrics made us feel better than we had in a while, in the way that a good song becomes a personal anthem. Which is odd, because the lyrics are some of the most painfully honest we've heard.
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Epic tornado-related song: "Naked Trees," by Me Like Bees
It's almost unfair to pick a best torna...Epic tornado-related song: "Naked Trees," by Me Like Bees
It's almost unfair to pick a best tornado song — so many artists have poured their heart and soul into music to help Joplin residents deal with the tornado.
Ross Gipson's "Wounded Town" is sublimely written with just the right amount of feeling --no bombast, no balladeering, just raw emotion. LiveWire wrote "Miracle of the Human Spirit" and recorded a video underneath the cross at St. Mary's Church. Mark Laperle's "Sing Again" was used by the city as a motto and a keystone for a memorial.
But the one song that nails it for us: "Naked Trees," by Me Like Bees. It's slow-yet-upbeat rhythm and poetic lyrics made us feel better than we had in a while, in the way that a good song becomes a personal anthem. Which is odd, because the lyrics are some of the most painfully honest we've heard. From breathing in fallen walls to not being able to sleep during rain, "bracing for that howl again," the lyrics seem to come from right beside wherever we were when we survived the tornado.
"Naked Trees" is different from all of the other songs. While others songs sought to soothe us and comfort us, Me Like Bees heard us say, "This sucks," and they agreed. They covered everything about our experience, from the "heroes and suitors" to the "villains and looters."
But they didn't TELL us everything was going to be all right. They just pointed to some of Joplin's strange new trees -- the ones with broken branches and green leaves sprouting like Chia pets near the trunk.
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Me Like Bees' new single (all funds going to the hometown habitat for humanity) begins like the hand of an old friend on the shoulder, side by side with the listener at the scene of the devastation.
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It's startling really, but kind. Luke Sheafer's lilting "Hey, we'll inch out all these miles," burs...It's startling really, but kind. Luke Sheafer's lilting "Hey, we'll inch out all these miles," bursts from the speakers over two light taps of glockenspiel. A gentle, alternating guitar chord pattern follows, along with two more chime-like taps. Me Like Bees' new single (all funds going to the hometown habitat for humanity) begins like the hand of an old friend on the shoulder, side by side with the listener at the scene of the devastation.
The bass and drums kick in as the singer recalls where he was when it all happened, out of town, helping a friend "park his tired soul." He hears something has happened back home, and he can't get through on the phone. The tornado's destruction is all over the news. Pete Burton's guitar delivers a wall of sound that pushes the music to its first crescendo. The singer's narrative moves from a personal loss to tackling something near incomprehensible.
Now the music returns to the pattern in the first quiet verse, but the guitar is biting just as "the sky opened its mouth and showed its teeth." Friends are buried under homes. And "everyone was screaming..." this wordless refrain, "loo lay loo lay loo lay loo lay loo lay loo," but by the time the refrain is repeated, it's "everyone sang 'loo lay loo...'" Out of chaos, people build a common song.
That doesn't mean it's easy. "So, now you can't sleep when you hear rain," the singer sings over shimmering guitar chords just moments before the music explodes into an agonized, almost indecipherable bridge. The singer gnashes and bites. Band members shout back. The music is about to run off the rails...
It doesn't though. The band snaps back to that first verse pattern, whistling responses to the singer's calls, insisting on the melody, pushing forward with harmony. This time, though, unlike at the beginning, the whole band is backing the singer's summary of the story that's come before, and the guitar is raring forward with a funky percussive riff. Though "your mind keeps bracing for that howl again," the music works its way back to the sparest melodic line, embellished only by each instrument adding an essential pulse.
The song ends back in the present, outside of the memories and the nightmares, with that friends' hand on the shoulder. And he's saying in this lilting, beautiful alto, "I know it seems for miles the world's at end/But even in all this/Our naked tree's greening again." And then the song's over, with a final quick pulse from everyone in the band.
Wednesday night, when Me Like Bees first released this single, I immediately felt this song as a delicate, considered rendering of pain. Grief was the word that came to mind that night; still does. This is a song by, for and about the victims of the Joplin tornado, and it is thoughtful about the mistakes people typically make when dealing with a pathos so deep.
The song's talking to and for friends "despite the wreck that was all that you ever owned." And it knows loss like this can't be avoided, talked over or around, or minimized. It also can't be dealt with impatiently. Though the ending focuses on a small sign that life itself refuses to give up, such hope is offered only as what it is, an observation. The song's smart enough to end without editorializing further.
I know few things as well as this one--if there's one thing we can count on in life, it's pain. Friends stand shoulder to shoulder with us through our pain, knowing they can't take it away from us. The song's repeated advice, "Hey, let's look this in the eye" seems about as good as it gets. Music this naked, brave and beautiful makes it something close to bearable.
Me Like Bees single, "Naked Trees," is available at www.melikebees.com You can name your price, and the money goes to Joplin Area Habitat for Humanity.
Postscript: Me Like Bees' December 3rd Riot Room show delivered almost all new material engaging, thankfully, a decent-sized house and near-full floor. "Naked Trees" offered a particularly delicate beauty in a set that ended with a bit of destruction no one in the house is likely to forget. At that show, I also learned what I took to be a wordless refrain actually had meaning central to a metaphor I missed altogether. To promote the fundraising single, the band distributes postcards with the band's web address as well as lyrics far more clever than suggested above. I decided to leave my mistakes above intact; they're the honest reactions of a listener. And music is music, first and foremost, an auditory experience. (In addition, the record deviates in at least one meaningful way from the lyric sheets that I'm glad I caught.) Still, the lyrics add rich layers to the song, so I thought I'd share the right stuff in the same space. They read--
Hey, we'll inch out all these miles
All our friends' houses in piles
Either side they're forming aisles
We'll breathe those fallen walls in till we choke
Amongst the naked trees we'll bear the yoke.
I was north helping an old friend park his tired soul
And while a song to help his belle along was due
My town down south cut in with its own tune
But I couldn't make it out, those phones were dead
That didn't stop the whole world from feeling it.
Bared its snout, the sky opened its mouth and showed its teeth
I heard you heard your house get chewed through from underneath
Everyone was screaming
Loup! Le Loup! Le Loup! Le Loup!
And so now you can't sleep when you hear rain
Your mind keeps bracing for that howl again
Hey, let's look this in the eye
Fear causes only divide
Don't feel guilt for troubled skies
For by the hair of our collective chin
Lord know it wasn't we who let it in
De nulle part le Loup souffla et le Loup souffle!
Miracles! Miracles! Wind and grace, wrath and mercy!
Heroes and suitors, villains and looters sifted out in the scrum!
But it's not done
It's still at home on every tongue
I was north heading a southward course when you first called
When I arrived, I found you all despite the wreck
That was all that you all had ever owned
Good Lord, we sang it
Loup! Le Loup! Le Loup! Le Loup!
Hey, let's look this in the eye
Cease this mind-wrapping of why
Don't feel guilt for troubled skies
I know it seems for miles the world's at end
But even in all this are naked trees greening again.
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Me Like Bees releases song as fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity
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I was north helping an old friend park his tired soul
And while a song to help his belle along wa...I was north helping an old friend park his tired soul
And while a song to help his belle along was due
My town down south cut in with its own tune
Luke Sheafer went from one tragedy to another on May 22. The day the tornado hit, he was in Kansas City mourning the loss of his stepfather, who passed away the day before. As much as he wanted to stay with family for the funeral, Joplin called -- despite all the phones being out.
“He couldn’t get through to anyone,” said Asher Poindexter, friend and bandmate of Sheafer. “So he said to his family that he knew they needed him, but there were bigger things going on in his hometown.”
Sheafer missed his stepfather’s funeral, made it back to Joplin and found his hometown in a mess, Poindexter said.
Bared its snout, the sky opened its mouth and showed its teeth
I heard you heard your house get chewed through from underneath
Everyone was screaming Loup! Le Loup! Le Loup! Le Loup!
Like many artists, Sheafer and his bandmates in Me Like Bees used their art to deal with the tragedy. The band recently released “Naked Trees,” a new song meant to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Listeners can download it for free, but they can make a donation if they choose to, Poindexter said.
“If we’re giving it away, we might as well ask for a donation and raise money for Habitat for Humanity,” he said. “People give what they can as they work to rebuild Joplin. Artists have an art they can use to help in a time of need.”
“Naked Trees” is a perfect driving song -- upbeat but not too hectic, anthemic but not overpowering. It features a contrast of styles that is a trademark of the band’s songwriting -- prancing indie-pop quickly becomes powerful rock, and just as quickly reverts to a chorus of whistles.
Poindexter, bassist for the band, said the song was coming together a few weeks before the tornado. He, vocalist Sheafer, guitarist Pete Burton and drummer Tim Cote had the basic structure of the song, but no lyrics.
Inspiration found the band after the tornado. Sheafer’s drive back to Joplin gave him the foundation.
Though the song’s title talks about the bark-stripped trees everywhere in the damage zone (and how later they grew close-knit, leafy branches from their splinters), the song talks more about a certain strong-lunged wolf, reminiscent of a little pig-eating, fairy tale villain.
“That was the driving force to keep going toward finishing the song,” Poindexter said. “It allowed us to finish the strongest song we’ve written yet. Lyrically and artistically, we thought, ‘Hey, we gotta record this and give it away.’”
Studio time is tough to come by, especially for a band that’s only a couple of years old. But a little bit of luck dropped in the band’s lap. “One of our guys entered our name in a raffle drawing at a benefit show,” Poindexter said. “We won a half-price prize from (Zombie Life Studios in Joplin).”
Don’t feel guilt for troubled skies
For by the hair of our collective chin
Lord knows it wasn’t we who let it in
Poindexter said completing the song has started something bigger: the completion of the band’s first full-length album.
“We thought that we could keep releasing singles,” Poindexter said. “And we might release some more. But our main focus is on a full-length album.” Inspired by Modest Mouse and Franz Ferdinand, Me Like Bees features an alternative rock sound with a strong beat.
“We like to make songs with a sort of dance rhythm, with funky bass lines and dance beats on the drums,” Poindexter said. “But we still direct songs with indie alt-rock guitar riffs and vocal patterns.”
The band has toured extensively across the Midwest, as far as Denver and Pueblo, Colo., and in northern Texas. They are regulars at nightspots in Joplin, Springfield, Tulsa, Kansas City and Wichita.
The band’s self-titled EP was released earlier this year, and is available on iTunes and other digital music platforms. And work continues -- the band has about half of its album written now. The spark from “Naked Trees” has turned into a fire, Poindexter said.
Some songs are simple rock songs, others feature the “asymmetrical, quirky” sound they are honing. Picking their favorite songs that fit together in a concise way is challenging.
“We want to do a collection of our strongest material,” he said. “It heightens our artistic senses, so we decided to keep this going. This is a strong song that we like, and we can continue with that mold.”
I know it seems for miles the world’s at end
But even in all this are naked trees greening again
Want to hear?
“Naked Trees” can be downloaded at http://melikebees.bandcamp.com/track/naked-trees. The song can be downloaded for free, but donations will go toward Habitat for Humanity.
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Local Band: Me Like Bees
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Good Vibrations podcast, Interview w/band member from Me Like Bees' Asher Poindexter. He discusses M...Good Vibrations podcast, Interview w/band member from Me Like Bees' Asher Poindexter. He discusses Me Like Bees' upcoming show at the new piano bar (old Trio's location). Check out their Halloween themed show Oct. 29th, 8-Midnight.
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Poindexter shifts sounds
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Asher Poindexter, senior sociology major, is up against a lot of competition this week.
Cannabis ...Asher Poindexter, senior sociology major, is up against a lot of competition this week.
Cannabis Revival, two bluegrass festivals and Raycliff Manor's first Screamfest are in the running for weekend activities, but Poindexter is sure he can draw a crowd with Me Like Bees. The band began advertising the show at the last Third Thursday Art Walk.
"At Third Thursday last week, we handed out free cds of ours and wrapped them in the flier for the show, asking people to give it a listen and come out if they like it," Poindexter said. "Me Like Bees draws influence from Arcade Fire, The White Stripes and Modest Mouse," Poindexter said. "We sort of collectively write the songs together as well to make it more interesting."
Me Like Bees is not Poindexter's first music act in Joplin. He is known in the area for his self titled solo project, which has a completely separate sound from Me Like Bees.
"There's a huge contrast because, a. when I'm solo it's just me and an acoustic guitar and then I play the stomp box and the tambourine with my feet," he said. "Also the style of music is sort of folk music and primitive acoustic. The band is definitely a rock band and we use a lot of different tones with the pedals and try to have unique lyrical content."
Poindexter is also quick to credit Luke Sheafer for Me Like Bees' lyrical content.
"Mainly sort of living in today's society and trying to be content with what you're doing," he said. "He graduated from [Southern] with a marketing degree about a year ago and has been staying in the area to pursue music, so some of the lyrics are a reflection of that sort of lifestyle. Some of them are abstract stories."
Me Like Bees will perform with regional rock band Benjamin Del Shreve beginning at 9:30 on Saturday at Blackthorn Pizza and Pub. Entry fee is $5.
supersonic
