Sunshine Hit Me

I expected nothing. I got a sun-drenched palette of lazy days lounging by a pool with a margarita and a good book. Refreshing. Possibly not life-changing but the best vacations usually aren’t.

Sweet little record, too gentle for this world, baffling to see on this list though.

Fantastic songwriting and arranging. Would’ve given an extra star if the album had the production quality and musicianship it deserved.

Remember The Bees? No, of course you don’t. They were a flash in the pan and unless you were reading Mojo or Uncut in 2002, you’d have no fucking clue who they are. It’s cool they covered Os Mutantes, that’s about it.

Have you ever seen those shows where Gordon Ramsay or Jamie Oliver or whoever go to some distant country and try all the food, then cook their own version and claim it's better - basically because it was done by brits? This album is the musical version - a bunch of technically proficient facsimiles of styles and genres that these chumps presumably love, but can't stop themselves from trying to "improve". They presumably hope this makes them seem cultured and worldly, but to me it just reeks of entitlement and privilege. Not the worst album, but one of the most irritating. Car adverts have a lot to answer for - why didn't they use the original Brazilian song? (read the wiki!) These lot would have been better setting up a label or becoming radio presenters, if they actually wanted to promote and celebrate the music they are instead ripping off. Good luck to them i guess, but very much not for me.

Album art suggests hipster garbage. It has fuck all plays on Spotify; unless it was only added yesterday, there's no way it's important or influential in any way whatsoever. It has to be from the UK - nothing so unknown would ever make this list from any other country - but a wrestler on the cover? That's not so British. Maybe that's the gag and it's just the ultimate UK hipster statement? Yep, UK and wussy annoying hipster pop. I could FEEL the cynicism coming through the speakers. It felt like it wanted to be clever, but it was just painful. I outright hated it. Music hard to describe, like an art school kid with no talent trying to do things like reggae and jazz? Singing was horrendous. Absolutely no reason for this to exist. 1/5.

Thank you 1001 for introducing me to do many new albums. Except for all the crap ones like the one after this.... Music is meant to be fun. To press a musical pleasure button. Bring about a wanted emotion or distract from an unwanted one. This one is a very, very out there version that. This is at the DEADPOOL end of the spectrum. Soothing quirky irony is track one. I gird myself for the 2nd. Oooh, funky. I like the kettle. Oh shit I might be hooked on a new album. And wildly new genre that feels created all for me. I'm in a good mood with this. Immediately added this to my "grooving mornings" playlist.

Every good band begins with a B. The Beatles. The Beach Boys. The beastie boys. The Bees also begins with a B but don’t let that fool you

Hey buddy, you could have just releases "200 albums you must hear before you die" if you knew you were incapable of finding more essential albums than that.

Short and sweet, interesting arrangements. Got a little tired of it towards the end, but happy I listened to this cause I ain't heard of em before. Light 3.5 Fav track: sunshine

This is absolutely my favorite McCartney album of the 21st century.

I like it. It’s a little weird, a little silly, and an eclectic mishmash of styles. I also like the album cover. It made me want to listen to more of their music—which is a compliment to the album as it is. I’ve started listening to their second album and I think it’s clearly superior—I’m finding that the 1001 Albums seem to overvalue debuts. I must also admit that I’m surprised that this album made the cut and I’d be curious to know the reasoning. In any case, this is a solid album that was fun and surprising and left me wanting more. That earns a solid 4 stars.

Chill vibe. Enjoyable, though actually disliked the Minha Menina one that was so popular

Smooooooooooooooooth… garden shed energy.

Our second noughties latte-lounge album of the week, a reggae-fan’s one this time, playing in the corner, staring at its feet; go get me an espresso, and grab yourself a 2 while you're at it! I imagine this is the LP that the “pretty annoying” guy in Limmy’s sketch would have on vinyl. This record has some sharp glints, Sunshine followed by A Minha Menina making my ears wiggle before the dozy vibes returned and did their somnolent magic. The instrument sounds are frequently divine. Yet most of it doesn’t so much waste my time as evade it.

Drifted past aimlessly, the only moment of note being a half-arsed version of A Minha Menina. Hopefully "Os Mutantes" appears later on; The Bees certainly do not deserve distinction being on here instead. 1* for wasting my time

completely unassuming and instantly forgettable.

“oh this is just gonna be one of those albums that i’ll listen to once and never think about again” *listens to it* “what the fuck

sunshine hit me as well

What a unique genre bending experience. Starts out funk, melts into reggae, slows down to mellow indie all while keeping a thematic sound that is complete throughout. Feel like this one will need a couple relistens to fully appreciate it. 9/10

Very chill album

5/5 Low-key, chill, funky tunes, with surreal, simple vocals. I love it. The whole experience is fantastic, creating a unique sound of pop whilst retaining a sense of weirdness about it almost like a slower, more laid-back SMiLE. Angryman in particular is a special kind of song that is full of soul, and Sweet Like a Champion is such a sinisterly beautiful track. The A Minha Menina cover deserves a shoutout too for its great take on a classic, and a timeless feel. Punchbag 4.5/5 (LEAST FAV) Angryman 5/5 (FAV) No Trophy 5/5 Binnel Bay 5/5 Sunshine 5/5 A Minha Menina 5/5 This Town 5/5 Sweet Like a Champion 5/5 Lying in the Snow 5/5 Zia 5/5 Sky Holds the Sun 5/5

A sweet sweet combination of lofi indie, modern psych rock, and classic funk.

Never heard of this band but I loved this style, awesome debut and feels ahead of it's time for 2002.

Good!

Dreamy, soft, and fun. "Hard to be in a bad mood if this is on" type of shit.

I couldn't decide if I liked this album as a four or a five, but the fact that I have listened to it three times already, I think means that I have to give it a five. I love the unique Lofi sound. Angry man was probably my favorite track.

Very nice. Pleasantly relaxing.

super band, would have like more records from them as i proper rinsed this one in the early zeroes

whopper

mint

Rounding up for nostalgia, I still love this

These guys are great and I don't just say that because I keep bees.

nice rustig!

hasta el momento uno de los mejores discos que he escuchado, con una variedad de ritmos que transportan en viajes en el tiempo.

Sehr geiles souliges Album. Klingt sehr gut im 3. Zimmer.

what a wonderful album, endlessly original and full of diversity I loved this so much, I gave it a relisten two more times after it ended- 10/10

Fun, funky, smooth, pretty, jut a great time

Mellow. Lo-fi. Spans many decades.

Great album. Chill consistent indie rock. Interesting and enjoyable.

Chill ass album. This reminded me of Tyler, the Creator’s Flower Boy to Call Me If You Get Lost run, laid back and summery, big focus on production over vocals.

Good

Fun, sunny and chill indie pop from 2002. I caught on to the accents quite quick but didn't initially expect this to be a British band - It has a very west-coast US feel to it in my opinion. Certainly doesn't suit the shitty weather the UK has once again blessed us with on this cold November morning but I needed something like this to raise my spirits. I loved this album a lot, it may not be the most exciting but I just appreciated getting to vibe with it. Another great introduction to something right up my alley! Also I went and listened to the original Os Mutantes version of A Minha Menina after this. I can't decide which one I prefer more, but The Bees certainly did it justice in their cover. Either way, Jorge Ben wrote it so of course it was good. Favourite: A Minha Menina

Really enjoyed this listening experience. A good flow to the album, with instrumental tracks between the main tracks.

This FUCKED

Not my type of music going into it but man was I pleasantly surprised. A minha menina is great, I had to listen to that one twice, it was so good. The album is really great. I'm probably going to have to get more restrictive with the 5 star ratings pretty soon. It's been like 3 in a row. Well, anyway. Albums dope, will definitely put it on again as background while studying or working.

Super eclectic and a super enjoyable listen

Yeah this was enjoyable! Started out well, liked the jazzyness. Got a bit more samey towards the end but overall was some good 00s bangers

The Bees? More like The Bees’ Knees! From the moment I laid eyes on the album cover, I was hooked. It’s a visual masterpiece that screams “play me!” The music itself is a delightful concoction of chill vibes and tropical escapades. It’s like a sonic vacation that whisks you away to a sun-drenched paradise, perfect for those lazy workdays. I found myself drifting into a pleasant trance while working away, dreaming of my recent Australia trip. With hints of tropicália sprinkled throughout, this album is a sunny delight that makes you yearn for warmer weather.

Good groove, interesting songs, I appreciated

Funky, quirky, groovy. This is a really nice record with some great sounds front to back. The melodies and vocals mix so well, and the instrumentation carries the whole album. Hadn’t heard of this group but I was familiar with one song (A Minha Menina) that is a jam. Great one here.

Quirky and upbeat

Apart maar heeft wel wat 7/10

Incredibly feel-good and vibey. I loved 60s/70s vibe a lot of these songs had. Favorites were Angryman, A Minha Menina, and Sky Holds the Sun

pretty quirky album, would like to listen some more. Not as good as I was expecting, but good.

I found this extremely good and although I feel I have listened to this band's catalogue, it felt entirely new and fresh as I began my Thanksgiving cooking. Not sure what else to say about this one except it's excellent and highly creative and I hope to revisit it again some time soon!

WTF is this...? This is a refreshing breath of respite on 1001, that's what this is.. Actually, most of it is Lo-fi chill with a ton of different influences combined into one album. Tho good artists are able to take inspiration from other artists and blend that into their own, this album struggles to do all of that because of the two outlier tracks. Angryman and No Trophy killed the originality vibe on the album. Neither of those reggae-y tracks belong here and really drag it down. I'd heard the A Minha Minina track somewhere before, that is absolutely original and a highlight on this album. I also really enjoyed Zia. So chill and relaxed. Overall a find I'll listen to in the future, but selectively omit the two duds.

What a wonderfully pleasant discovery. Will get repeated listenings from me.

This is why indie needs to exist. Absent the influence of music industry insiders, artists create new, sometimes odd, sounds. Is it always a home run? No, but the creativity is refreshing. The vibe of this album reminds me somewhat of Poolside. Not that the sound is the same, but I’m feeling the laid backness.

Didn’t know this before. Nice surprise for me. I liked the variety of sounds and styles throughout the record.

Fun little detour of low-impact beauty. Really liked it.

I liked this. Fun and eclectic.

Wow, what a revelation. Thought it would be yet another British album that was included on this list for less than impartial reasons, but I absolutely loved it. What an interesting album! Honestly saved more than half of it. Brilliant stuff, what a mix of genres. Reminded me of the Winnie the Pooh world and forests in rural Dublin/Wicklow.

This album was delightful, nothing too exceptional but the vibes were great. Music is meant to be enjoyable and I really enjoyed this. This Town is the favorite. Like another review said, this album is like sitting by the pool with a margarita. just a super chill nice vibe

The Bees seem to be trying to bring back the wonderful sound of 60's Brazilian Tropicália and, really, if any style is to be revived why not start with the best of them. Being the work of a couple of producers it's also no surprise the arrangements are detailed to a fault and filled with cutting edge sound effects. Alas, the whole album just doesn't gel, in my honest opinion. Sounds like a show-off Spotify Randomised Playlist. Enjoyable, but not essential.

This was super nice! Glad to have discovered

This has got a real Beta Band quality to it. It really sounds like the kind of thing that had a short moment in the early 2000s British scene. Artists like Simian, Badly Drawn Boy, and of course Beta Band, where putting together some very eclectic and fairly upbeat albums, mashing different styles together like they were picking up used records at random for inspiration and turning them into something pretty decent. The Bees may not be the most noteworthy example of this short lived indie rock genre (what would you call it anyway?), but it's still pretty good. The Os Mutantes cover was a nice surprise as well.

great album

Nice and the vocals reminded me a little of the Beatles.

This was so feel good. Will definitely give another listen to soon. 3.5/5

this was pretty relaxing, very lofi, i liked the piano track at the end, really good i can’t lie

Really great Loved hearing loads of different influences showing in a different genre The ska influence is great The long instrumental sections are very good High 4

This was new to me and I really enjoyed it!

Never heard of this album so I didn't have much expectations going in but I was pleasantly surprised. Favorites - Punchbag, Sweet like a Champion, Sunshine, Sky holds the Sun Least Favorites - No trophy, Binnel Bay

Chill

A smooth jazz feeling album with mellow vocals. Not at all what I expected based on the album cover and artist name, but pretty pleasant for the start of my day!

Sweetly soothing, borderline twee and breezy. Just a gentle hug for whatever is left of your soul at the end of a long week and 300+ days into this endeavour.

7.5/10 A pleasant surprise - I came expecting indie, ended up with a really interesting melting pot of influences. Soul, jazz, reggae, Latinusic amongst many references Really well played, excellent vibes Best: sunshine

Cool name, cool album cover - but I was still prepared to hate this based on the overview. Happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised. I don't know that I loved it, but it was different and interesting. I'll give it a bump for being something deserving of the list. I think they carved out something unique here.

Better than I thought it’d be. Much better. So many different things in this album. They really span a bunch of genres.

++: Angryman, A Minha Menina, This Town +: Punchbag, Binnel Bay, Sunshine, Sweet Like a Champion, Zia +-: No Trophy, Lying in the Snow, Sky Holds the Sun 7,7/10

Started off making me think they were just another group of Beatle-revival wannabes. But there was enough originality here that actually left me wanting more when the album ended.

A pleasant album. I enjoyed it.

Eclectic. Like if ween married vampire weekend

This was a very sweet listen. Really chill, the dog days of summer feel

Never heard of them before, misread the name of the band and thought it was the Bee Gees. Still, this was amazing. Would buy it.

Lovely album, great surprise

Not often you find something this original, and I’m really enjoying it

not the BEES I know exactly one song of theirs that I'm very fond of, which I found in a chance LimeWire discovery. I was looking for "Stand" by R.E.M. and I somehow downloaded a 2007 Bees song of the same name. Worth the untimely demise of my parents' Windows XP PC Okay, recognized that riff from Os Mutantes immediately Sometimes I sniff at white (usually British) bands co-opting sounds of the Caribbean, or Brazil, but, ehh *gestures at Paul Simon, The Police, The Clash, this album* clearly there are a lot of examples I enjoy Okay, despite the fact that it got almost too breezy towards the end, Sunshine Hit Me is also exactly what the doctor ordered on a hot, hazy afternoon. HL: "No Trophy", "Bimmel Bay", "Zia", August 1, 2024

This was another unexpected surprise, just a quirky early aughts record with some compelling layers of personality and soul. I liked it quite a lot. A very ambient and pleasant listen.

They should stick to singing in english

Nice album, very chill for going about in the pissing rain in July

Took me back to 60s and 70s music

A very nice listen, with almost a lo-fi feel. Quirky and melancholy but not overplayed or derivative. Honestly sounds like it could have been released last year; I feel like this will be an album that people recognize as a trailblazer for the modern indie sound. Top tracks: Sunshine, Lying in the Snow, Sky Holds the Sun

Super interesting! A good mix of styles, many of them worked, some fell pretty flat. Surprised I hadn't heard of this before. Definitely in my wheelhouse. 3.5/5

I liked it and will add it to the listen again pile. It could be setbreak music. Will check out more of their records

It's a pleasant laid back listen from a band that wears their influences on their sleeve. If there is once criticism, it feels a bit bitty, like they are pulling in too many directions, but nonetheless, it's an enjoyable listen.

Cool brezzy chilled out yeah man enjoyed it, bug out brother

I enjoyed

I made the mistake of listening to this while tired and sick WFH. Loved the sound, but I would need to be in a very specific mood for it. Great for background music while cleaning or working.