Sunshine Hit Me

Not good, not bad

Kuuntelu auton ratissa ja viihdyin.

I never heard of this and it was chill and enjoyable, but also forgettable.

It kinda sounds like a travel vlog soundtrack, but it is not that bad. Not good either

3.5

I'd never heard of these guys before - I really liked some of the songs here, especially in the first half of the album. The Os Mutantes cover was a fun surprise, I just listened to that album the other day. Very chill vibes all around.

Second half is decent relaxing music, Sky Holds the Sun is bloody brilliant. Didn't care about the first half

If someone were to describe an album as light lofi whimsical indie pop from the beginning of the century I'd almost certainly place 14 beans and a rabbit's foot on my loathing it. But oddly I don't. Hate it, that is. Yeah it's light and just barely not stepping over the wry "aren't we cute" line that would place it in the firmly annoying, but somehow sidesteps it for the most part. At its best, you could assemble 5 or 6 tracks for lounging in a chair with a very light beer, probably with a lime twist. Having said that, I may forget it 2 minutes after I click Save below. Easy listening and nice in headphones. 6/10 3 stars

Listening to the first few songs by The Bees, I hear the influence of two other B’s — The Beach Boys and The Beatles. Mix in some jazzy soft rock, ska and indie it adds up to a pleasant, varied, low-key style. “A Minha Menina” is a catchy one! Wow, “Zia” is gorgeous. I wouldn’t have been mad about one or two more upbeat songs but this was still very enjoyable.

Pretty cool sound right from the start. I like the grooves and production, although sometimes the production has some interesting overlaps that kind of conflict. The vocals left a bit to be desired for me though and kept it from a higher rating for me personally, they just kind of felt "bolted on" to the music and not as much of another voice/instrument in the overall sound. They were also just kind of forgettable. 3/5. Cool album cover, nice sound. Nothing too crazy and that's what kind of keeps it from doing more for me.

Not a bad album but does not belong on this list at all

Really enjoyed this eclectic album. Summery sounds from broad influence 2001

Pretty cool

Apparently much better without the Gees. Quirky but worth another listen, maybe?

A Minus Menina is a certified banger but the rest is mid

This is album that has its moments. "A Minha Menina" is a cover of a song by Os Mutantes, an impressive 60's Brazilian experimental psychedelic band (!) whose 1968 album is part of the 1001. Most of the album doesn't sound quite like this but, again, there are moments. I liked the sound and feel of "Angryman" and "Sweet Like a Champion." Mostly I'm intrigued by the story: two friends create an album in the shed of their parents' garden, which sounds like a British version of the tech company started in a parents' garage. I'm told the duo went on to tour with a "real" band, and that real band made some more good albums... curious to check them out! But I can only give 3 stars because I don't picture coming back to this one, promising as it is.

A sunshiny fun album full of harmonies and good grooves. Sort of sounded like ska with the syncopated riffs and horns, but some songs were a little more indie-esque, like an Animal Collective offshoot. Eclectic mix of sounds really, even veering into jazz territory. An interesting and enjoyable listen.

Buenísimos temas

I've never heard of The Bees. It's pleasant enough, chill music. Good for 2000s pop music. Favorite track: A Minha Menina

Original but not very interesting. Not grating though, good background music.

It's a nice album. It's very old fashioned. Vintage sounds and equipment stuff. Some good tunes, but a bit regressive, I suppose.

Turns out I actually know one of these tracks! I will admit, when I saw an unknown from the early 2000s my heart sank, but actually it's OK. I mean, OK for an early 2000s act, which makes them pretty mundane for actual good music, but hey, I thought it was OK.

This album didn't really feel like it knew what it wanted to be. Finished very smooth though

Interesting early 2000s alternative soft rock. Not bad but not my thing.

Not bad. Kinda reminds me of air or zero 7. Pretty chill.

A very enjoyable, inconsequential record that I did not “need to hear before I died.” 3.5/5

Nice

Didn't know i had heard The Bees before but it turns out I knew chicken payback from the follow up to this Free The Bees which is better than this. This is a decent album but suffers a lot for me with the production although it was recorded in a shed. The Os Mutantes cover was good but not as good as the original, not sure why it's in the book as The Bees were never a big act but if they had to be in the book Free The Bees would have been a better choice.

Decent album with a nice chill vibe.

Lovely pleasant songs. Typically, the cover song is the banger that got put in adverts. Not a particularly noteworthy entry, though.

Yet another ex-1001 album!™ http://1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie.wikidot.com/album-artists-a-z-ex Plenty of good time mellowing lo-fi summertime vibes to be had here. Shame its largely forgettable.

3.75

Dreamy 60s throwbacks, nice but forgettable 3*

Started off cool and groovy then just slowly lost my interest. Not a bad listen, but was kinda ready for it to be over towards the end.

Was ok, nothing special about it. Not sure why it's on this list

This was one of the more unique albums I've listened to. Some of it was very clever musically but it really wasn't my thing.

Un álbum bastante bueno de "nueva escena inglesa" de los 2000s. Si bien, debió haberse escuchado más "revolucionario" en la época en la que se lanzó, y en el contexto de la creciente escena de la Isla de Wight, retomarlo con más perspectiva hace que quien lo escucha se de cuenta que no es más que una reproducción poco inspirada de bandas y conceptos más originales. De todas formas, le doy un puntaje medio por la gran producción del LP, que solo fue grabado por dos personas con equipos de "home recording".

Not really memorable

Sunshine Hit Me seems to have made absolutely zero impact on music history and on me as a listener. But pleasant enough.

Another great example of the people behind this list finding a Mercury Music Prize nominee and cramming them on here. Sunshine Hit Me is actually rather nice and pleasant - but it’s neither truly innovative or influential. There’s really no good reason for this to have a spot on a list like this.

Never heard of The Bees before today, and I’m at war with what I think of this album. Some of it is pretty forgettable, some of the vocals are subpar, but A Minha Menina was really good, This Town wasn’t bad. It doesn’t seem like it quite knows what it’s supposed to be. Just about a 3, I think.

This one grew on me, started as a 2 and matured to a casual 3, the deluxe version has a few more tracks that aren’t half bad. Nothing to run home bragging about though.

B- Punchbag 5 Angryman 3 No Trophy 3 Binnel Bay 3 Sunshine 3 A Minha Menina 3 This Town 3 Sweet Like A Champion 4 Lying In The Snow 3 Zia 3 Sky Holds The Sun 3 I would give 3.5 to most of these songs if I could.

Mellow, chill, good instrumentals and vocal, great variety of instruments some not heard of in another song great overal but didn’t wow me

Surprisingly ok. 3.5

Mellow and enjoyable, though thoroughly unremarkable. I’ve begun to suspect the curator of this list is either very easily impressed or more concerned with the narrative around the work than the actuality of what hits your ears.

Indie rock. Ni fu ni fa.

chill album

A pretty chill primarily instrumental rock record with some sprinkles of psychedelica and jazz thrown in. The kind of record perfect to fall asleep to or to relax to in the background.

3.5 - Smooth and sunny indie rock that sounds typical of the early-aughts — a balanced, composed blend of moods, equally effusive and introspective, with old-timey sounding acoustic instruments that vaguely harken back to American parlor music. It’s telling that the most memorable song on here is their cover Os Mutantes’ “A Minha Menina.”

I'm not familiar with this artist, but the album cover does look pretty familiar for some reason. I thought this album was fine. I wasn't a fan of the songs that relied more heavily on reggae influences, like "No Trophy" or "Binnel Bay," but the other songs on the album were okay. I like the percussion and drumming throughout the album, especially on the first two songs. On "Punchbag," the percussion went really well with the keyboard/organ and horn parts, and combined with the bass, it gave the song a really nice groove. On "Angryman," I liked how the maracas sounded with the main guitar part, and the organ parts were good too. "Angryman" probably had my favorite vocals on the album as well. Conversely, the vocals prevented me from enjoying "A Minha Menina" as much. I thought that "Lying In The Snow" was the best song on the album. The arrangements were beautiful, and it felt like there was a lot of emotion in the overall sound of the song. I was especially fond of the piano playing on that song as well. "Zia" was nice as well, and a really well-placed follow up to "Lying In the Snow." This album was nice to listen to, but it's not the sort of thing that I gravitate towards.

Wow this is a real mixture of genres and sounds- kinda low-key but easy to listen to. Reminds me of early 10cc in their ability to inject styles and mould it together.

Dreamy background music

Pleasant enough background

After two listens, I’ve concluded that this is a relatively chill album. How often I’d come back to it, I’m unsure, but it was worth the two listens. It really is an album of different genre influences. Psychedelic, reggae, electronic. 3/5

I liked the vibe but nothing really stood out to me.

Nette Hintergrundmusik, ruhig und beruhigend, zum chillen.

Punchbag 3.4 Angryman 3.5 No Trophy 3.3 Binnel Bay 3 Sunshine 3.2 A Minha Menina 3.4 This Town 3.1 Sweet Like a Champion 3.3 Lying in the Snow 3.2 Zia 3.2 Sky Holds the Sun 3.4 Score: 3.272727273

Good!!

It's... alright? Kinda vanilla. Not offensive but also not exciting on any level. Not sure why this rates inclusion, honestly.

Background music

Kind of meh.

Really easy listen. Never heard of them before. I think after I get to know it I'd rate it higher, but for now 3.5

Interesting. Never heard of them before. It's not a very well composed album. There are a bit too many places where there's an abrupt transition that doesn't need it. Like at the 24 second mark of Punchbag.

A quirky alt-rock/pop album that has a bit of variety though the engagement level is a bit up and down. Particuarly as the latter half of the album seems to slow down quite a bit and be a mix of instrumentals and low tempo tracks. The highlight is the more energetic track, A Minha Menina, which is catchy and fun. No Trophy is also strong.

Punchbag // This Town // Sweet Like a Champion // Sky Holds the Sun //

Really enjoyed this! 3.5 ⭐️

I'm not sure if I liked it, but I think they have a precise album name. Listening to the album, I really felt that the sunshine hit me, and then he called the night to hit me again in the last songs. extra points for the Mutantes/Jorge Ben song.

Punchbag 5. Rest 3+

Very slow almost like a jazz, some of the calmest music I’ve ever heard. Album art and title summarized this pretty well Favorite: this town Least favorite : sky holds the sun 3.3/5

"Sunshine Hit Me" by The Bees is like a splash of cold lemonade on a hot day—refreshing at first sip but lacking a bit in flavor as you get to the bottom of the glass. The album starts off with a promising zest, delivering tracks that bask in their own light and eclectic charm. Yet, as it progresses, it seems to lose its initial spark, meandering through various styles without fully committing to any. The vibe is undeniably sunny and carries an air of nostalgia, reminiscent of a well-curated soundtrack for an indie summer road trip movie that never made it to the big screen. It's eclectic, yes, but in a way that feels more like flipping through radio stations than a cohesive journey. Awarding "Sunshine Hit Me" has an ability to momentarily lift spirits and inject a dose of auditory vitamin D. It's worth adding to your playlist for those moments when you need a light, background soundscape, but it might not be the album you reach for when you're in need of a profound musical experience.

It’s cute. Eclectic, different and well performed. Don’t hate it. It’s easy listening and inoffensive. Not essential, but nice. Good for background sound.

довольно много слушала, но сосредоточиться не удалось и осталось впечатление что много эклектичного но что-то в этом есть)

A nice surprise very chill very swag

An interesting and delightful change of pace here - this is a more recent addition to the project, and it’s great to see some out-there indie that I had never heard of before. Enjoyed the mellow, lo-fi vibes on this one and found myself having a nice relaxing listen with some witty lyricism here and there. Perhaps a touch too mellow to make a distinctive mark, but a great listen nevertheless.

This is as advertised. Good listen, chill, morning vibes. But like so many others it's probably.better suited for the 2501 albums to hear before you die

Un album très doux de la part de notre ami Rey Misterio qui vient prendre à contre-pied son image de bagarreur. Vous pouvez d'ailleurs me donner votre avis sur le jeu WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 sur Xbox 360 par courriel à l'adresse robertestleperedemikeladd@gmx.com

Un nouvel album qu'absolument personne n'avait entendu avant, et absolument personne ne s'en portait mal. Si vous voulez partager avec nous quels groupes des 1001 vous ont bien baisé la gueule, n'hésitez pas à nous contacter à l'adresse mail robertestleperedemikeladd@gmx.com

Nice pop album; an easy listen. Nothing more, nothing less. 3/5

First listen. Very good. 3.5/5

lots of different kinds of music in this one but it still somehow blends together.

It's cool! I think i kind of like it. Just a plus star 'cause i liked de art cover.

Eclectic bunch. You can feel they are having fun. A mix of a bunch of genres, unfortunately they are not very good at a bunch of them. Still enjoyable. 3 stars.

Gentle and harmless.

Never heard of this. Interesting find. Liked it.

It started so well with two jazzy pop grooves then became a bit boring really. Disappointing, but not terrible. A very low three.

I really wanted to dislike this so I could pithily post this, but alas, it was actually ok. Still, I’ll post it anyway. https://youtu.be/UatQsjjOIAc?si=0fNbPRJQLt9QWEXQ

A little underwhelming but not unpleasant.

I wanted to like this more than I did… sort of left me with a ho-hum reaction. Nothing I hated but kept feeling like something was missing and hoping for more.

Nice, a few of these I remember from back in the day. It's not so good I am going to rush to listen to it again though.

Another indie band I should like but was just fine.

Pleasant advert music, zero bite but completely inoffensive

Fun retro vibes, generally very jammy and groovy. Probably more of a summer album, come back when you're in the mood for beatles x bob marley x beach boys x indie

This album was very breezy summer indie rock. It was pleasant with some reggae influences and I enjoyed listening to it. However, nothing from it really stuck with me and while listening to it, nothing struck me as notable. It was still a nice listen through.

Fun, mellow, indie rock album.

Light and airy.

Weird album. Definite indie vibes, but with some notes of funk, a little 70s organ rock, and No Trophy has that straight up classic reggae flavor. It's almost experimental? It reminds me loosely of The Flaming Lips, but more accessible. Every song sounds different, which is interesting. The first half was kind of interesting, the second half kind of reminds me of The Polyphonic Spree, which is to say it tries to be this grand cornucopia of sound but it's actually a bit boring. Kind of a 2.5 album. This is where I complain again about the 5 star review limitations because this is nowhere near as bad as some other albums Ive rated 2 stars, but nowhere near as good as some that ive rated 3 stars.

💤😉

Relaxing. I dont get summer vibes from it. but that is becuase I am from a place where summer feels very different to what it would be like in Europe. I really did enjoy A Minha Menina a lot and wont be upset if it comes around again

Plus

Various genres done in a basic pop sound. Was a decent listen, not sure about it's inclusion on this list per se.

Interesting and enjoyable listen. I love it when this list introduces me to something unique sounding. I may not love it but I don’t feel it’s a waste of my time to explore something new.

Disjointed. Not a bad listen, but the songs are all over the place.

Strange album. It's not bad, but not sure why it's on the list either. Other than it may have been popular in the UK for 3 months and the author(s) of the book seem to love that. I would've preferred to listen to this outside in the late spring or summer with a breeze. In the cold of winter at my work desk wasn't the best environment. It's sort of all over the place, and grabs different styles from different places. I think I'll listen to this one again. But not soon.

some good tunes

I didn't know anything about this album and had never even heard of the band, but it was delightful.

3.5/5. Chill, kind of lo-fi. This was nice to listen to. I would not mind coming back to this.

This was fun something different… i liked punch bag… binal bay… and sunshine

Indi Stuff, not too bad, but nothing remarkable.

You can at least listen to this. Quite okay.

Indie rock. Ni fu ni fa.

Indie rock, tranquilo. Un poco rollo.

Ok but strong whiff of hipster

Good sounding album, took a couple songs for the playlist but nothing super memorable

Genuinely thought the opening line was "You smell like a punchbag", which on continued listening may have improved things. Angryman sounds a bit like if Ian Brown had been asked to soundtrack a blaxploitation flick. I kept waiting for Zia to do what it clearly wanted to do and turn into Time by The Alan Parsons Project, but was left disappointed There's nothing wrong or bad about the album, but it's not groundbreaking, and I can't see it being influential. I fully expect at least one of these tracks to have been on Made In Chelsea. I can't really give it a 2, but it's a very, very low 3.

Good

This was a real mixed bag. Some of the first tracks were worth coming back to but later tracks were a little more in the take or leave it basket.

This sounded like a novelty record at times. I enjoyed the vibe occasionally but I left it not really knowing what they were trying to do.

somewhere between a 2 but closer to 3..rounding up.

General thoughts: This album got me very mixed feelings. The beggining is pretty bad it left me bad impressions, not really my style at all to be honest, Reggae + Pop is not a wining combination for me. Bit before the middle of the road there are some good songs, bit slow but they are interesting, "Sunshine" is jazzy cool, "Binnel bay" is a good bridge. Then they turn max the already slow vibe and makes the songs so plain and boring, worse than the first part of the album. I liked all the influences, there's Reggae, Jazz, Alternative Pop, Pop Rock, Lo-Fi. But the sound feels with no passion, that plus the sloow pace makes some songs hard to listen. Outstanding songs: Sunshine, Punchbag. Cover: Really cool. Would have loved a full image of the wrestler. Real rating: 2.54

Was vaguely aware of the bees but hadn’t hear this album. Pretty good.

3.0 The last couple album reviews were a bit of a slog, this was a good change of pace

This was alright. Never heard of this band nor the album until today.

Eclectic and not too bad

Intriguing collection of songs. Quirky but not in a bad way and I ended up listening a few times.

Sunday morning chill music

I put this one before bed and was pretty much asleep by the end of it. However this kind of exactly what I wanted it to do, so can’t complain.

SHACK eats bees. lures them to him using his nipple pollen and then uses his remarkably lizard like tongue to snaffle them up.

Did you know? SHACK eats bees

Some happy sounds. Some less than interesting.

Next 5 songs played by my Spotify Algorithm: Field Music - Them That Do Nothing Xo La Tengo - periodically Double or Triple Julian Cope - Jellypop Perky Jean Luna - Broken Chair Noonday Underground - Go It Along

Ágæt afþreying.

Hifi indie beats to study to. Sie vo isle of wight da isch no cool? Find sie singed mega schön und angry man isch recht cool. Gungu tschi tschi nöd nötig aber. Finds no cool und wirds fix nomol lose. Eifach en beat und chli gsang tuets mengmol. Ein stern abzug wegem gungutschitschi sorry aber mach ihm nöd

punchbag. fangt geil ah de beat mega unerwartet. blöser schön und so. no nice. gspannt wies witergoht. angryman. cooli bassline. orgle nice. klavier mega schö, schellechranz guet igsetzt. No Trophy. reggae mässig, aber sochli 16tel groove und chords wo öpis mached. sehr tolerierbare reggae. Binnel Bay plätscheret chli. aber isch immerno schön. mehrstimmige gsang sehr schön. sunshine. geile leslie gitarresound. schls rhodes. sweet like a champion. mega moody aber no nice. gefällt. nöd fantastisch aber gefällt. s klavier tönt seeehr geil. Lying in the Snow. drum machine und wonk gitti sehr e gueti kombi. d sounds wos us ihrem home studio useholed sind super geil. tönt sehr noch tape. Zia. come mi zia?? monicatime?? wieder geils klavier und e orgle wo guet brucht wird (isch selte). schöns stückli. Sky Holds the Sun. mh de a avatar zupfndtrumentli cute. tönt sehr noch tom misch und has öppe glich gern. aso nöd.

ok bin jz öppe ide hälfti und ich finds sehr cute und verspielt, au wenn mich na nüt "richtig" packt het muss au sege, dass ichs album nöd mega aktiv glost han jaa ah dem het sich nüt gross gänderet, punchbag hani recht cool gfunde und a minha menina iwie goofy funny musikalisch hets mich komischerwiis mengisch chli ah von wegen lisbeth eri neret?

pretty delicious to listen to getting ready for school and wanting to go back to bed and never wake up very mellow i liked most of the songs

This was fun, sometimes more fun than others. Summer indie

Not my normal listening but nice to have on in the background.

Solid

3.5

Pretty good, nice and chilled

I kind of hate using this term in this way, but this album is straight up vibes. Absolutely perfect for a beautiful sunny day in the summer. Sadly the weather where I live during this time of year doesn’t exactly fit that very well. But that doesn’t take away from how fun this album is. From front to back, it’s a good time. Sunshine Hit Me is a great title, as this does really capture the feeling of rays of Sun hitting your face on the beach. I did find that after This Town, the tone got ever so slightly darker. It felt like it was leaning more into the psychedelic baroque side of things. I liked that switch up, and thought it added more variety to an otherwise simple album. This album probably does wear its influences on its sleeve, but it also takes those influences in a new direction. A more modern one at that. And also combines those pop sounds with other genres such as reggae, like on No Trophy, with that signature snare sound. They didn’t allow themselves to fall into the category of just another 60s-inspired psychedelic pop album, as many artists in the same vein do, and I respect that. Rating: 6/10

Fine. Decent vibes overall. I actually bought this album 18 years ago (at an Amoeba in San Francisco on August 5, 2005). I think my reaction then was similar to now. If I recall correctly, I think I bought this album because a review said fans of Beta Band might enjoy it. My copy of the CD says their name is “A Band of Bees”. There was probably already a band called “The Bees” in America when it was released.

I was worried this was going to be another dull 2000s British arena rock band kinda thing (looking at you, Muse and Elbow) but it was quirky and charming. The Os Mutantes cover was nice as well.

I liked the music, didn’t care for the singing/lyrics.

Groovy laid-back 60s-style rock and roll, but from 2001!

Good vibes.

I generally have some idea who most of the artists are on the 1001 list but know nothing about this band. Playful album that is super easy to listen to. Very much enjoyed it.

I like what's going on here, the multitude of influences making their way into an album that feels remarkably cohesive in spite of it. After reading a mention of Devendra Banhart on their wikipedia page I can't unheard the "freak folk" thing as well.

First track is strong and it's no wonder they wanted to lead with it. Second song fits the mood of the first nicely, but when they suddenly attempt reggae on track 3, I start to question things. Track 4 sounds like outright filler. Track 5 has a little more going on, but just feels like slightly more ornate filler. They're more like "themes" than songs. The Os Mutantes cover adds nothing to the original, nor this album. They're simply musically globetrotting now. If the moniker weren't already taken by a much more deserving band, they should've called themselves The Tourists. The rest of the album is slow, boring, and forgettable. The vast majority of tracks feel like they were whipped together to support their opening single, rather than being a proper album. They should have spent more time developing things, and hired someone besides their goofy friend from high school to design the cover.

Started off strong with tracks 1 and somewhat of 2 then started to waver. If it was all like track 1 I could have seen this going into my rotation. It's a coagulation of styles that doesn't make a great soup.

It's eclectic enough to be interesting but still some filler

Something completely new to me, and interesting - eclectic, it might be said, to a fault - s little unfocused. But of really I liked it.

Good album, very much of a specific time and place though.

Sweet, nice, forgetable.

Pretty smooth

I saw the Bees support Oasis at Pool Lighthouse in 2004. It was a great gig and I remember quite liking the buzzy little blighters in the support slot. I never knew they were rated as anything other than a standard early 2000s indie outfit, though. As it turns out, this is a really nice, eclectic, arty indie pop record. Lots of interesting and experimental sounds going on and a cover of Os Mutantes. Also cool to learn that the Bees are from Ventnor on the Isle of Wight - a lovely town with the warmest microclimate in the UK. The Botanical Gardens are well worth a visit and have an exceptional cafe. Rating: 3.5/5 Playlist track: Punchbag Date listened: 25/10/23

Generally good but who are these guys???

Almost so eclectic that it starts to be less cohesive, but still has its moments

Nice, but I don't think I'd make a point of listening to it

5/10. I feel like there was enough boring music out there already by 2001 that you wouldn't need to make this album, but I guess it's pretty good for what it is

Quite enjoyed it

mellow and enjoyable

I liked this, some low-key alt-pop is how I'd describe it. Never heard of this group or album, and I can kind of understand why. Not an insult, they just seem like an unsung type of band. But the music is very pleasant, I enjoyed this one. Favorite tracks: Punchbag, BInnel Bay, This Town. Album art: Really like this picture, a cartoon luchador. This one looks familiar to me, not sure if that's just from seeing the albums that are on this list. But it's memorable, I dig it. 3.5/5

Ok

Have never even heard of them. Beginning to question myself re music. I mean, it was pleasant. The second half was better than the first half which was pretty boring. I may listen again but it’s not life changing

I was liking the percussion and reggae flavours. It was weird but cool. The beats and the album seemed to fall off a cliff after A Minha Menina

Bees draw upon different styles and genres and it holds together well, more or less. I like the two tracks that include a keyboard player, “Sunshine” and “Zia”. There’s a jazz influence that surfaces every once and a while and a few more songs like those two, or the final track would have been to my liking. On the other hand, the old-time reggae of “No Trophy” sounds way out of place (I was sure Spotify was on shuffle), as does the Jorge Ben cover “A Minha Menina”, but that track getting licensed for a Citroen car commercial is why we are listening to these guys today.

Somewhat scattershot with a mix of genres, but it all seems to mesh together somehow. This album would probably serve well as the soundtrack for an indie film. Interestingly, the most popular song, a Minha Menina was my least favourite and I liked the more low-key and chill songs like Zia or Sky holds the sun and Punchbag the best.

Nice, pleasant indie music from the early 2000s. I loved their Os Mutantes cover. Though I enjoyed listening to it, it's nothing extraordinary so I don't think it should go above 3 out of 5.

Quiet and sweet

Decent enough indie rock. Not really my thing, but it’s brief and works well for background noise. Hardly essential but far from trash. C

Het klinkt allemaal best ok, maar ik snap niet zo goed wat dit nou eigenlijk is. Beetje vanalles wat, zonder duidelijke lijn. Maar ach ik ben in een goede bui dus 3 sterren voor de moeite.

Confused them with BeeGees lol. Feels just like a warm ray of sunshine, aptly named. Nice songs, but nothing really stuck with me

I'd never heard of this band and had no idea what to expect. I definitely think this album was only included because somebody writing the book has a nostalgic soft spot for it. My husband and I listened during a drive to pick up his new car. We both felt the front half of the album was boring but that the back half was more engaging. I REALLY liked "A Minha Menina." I'm not surprised it's the only cover on the album since it was a departure from the rest of the album. This lands somewhere in the fog between a 3 and 4 for me.

This had some chill '70s vibes, and vacillated between bad kooky and decent kooky. It's not something I'm in a hurry to listen to again, but I guess I'll round up from 2.5.

Melodic sunshine-y music that's enjoyable at the time, and entirely forgettable afterwards.

Kind of whimsical, jazzy, soft rock, poppy?

a perfectly pleasant album, but to me, ultimately, nothing really to write home about. it's a very good vibe album, very chill, but unfortunately just not incredibly interesting songwriting-wise or otherwise. i can't see myself listening to this one again, unless i am really in need of some chill-sounding background music, and even if so, i think there's other stuff i would prefer to listen to.

A lil Jack Johnson, a lil White Stripes. Not unpleasant but not for me.

Curiós si més no. Banda indie pop de començaments de mil.leni, filosofia lo-fi, arranjaments preciosistes per decorar unes cançons que pretenen portar-nos a un capvespre d'estiu recostats al sol; ajudar-nos a no pensar en res més que la vida és bonica, de vegades

Confession time: "Punchbag" and "A Minha Menina" were the first MP3s I ever downloaded, probably illegally via Limewire. I listened to them a lot, in the same way that I watched "Spaceballs" a lot because it was the only VHS tape we had. So I was kind of dreading this album, but I actually liked it. It has a lot of variety and it's definitely straddling multiple genres without losing its balance. Still not sure why some white middle-class guys from England are trying to be Mexican though?

Lovely background fluff

I love the dreamy sound a lot of these songs have, but the lyrics are really meh.

Very very chill, but nothing remarkable.

Decent but unremarkable Indie rock album that went places on some of those songs

Indie que apresenta a felicidade com toques jamaicanos e ainda fez uma versão para "A Minha Menina" do BenJor.

Loose, like a record written after smoking a good bowl and kind of just... letting it out. There's a good mash-up of genres, with a wide variety of instruments thrown around. It's nice, but fails to capture my attention a ton. Favorite tracks: "Punchbag", "Lying In the Snow"

I remember being at a party in Enmore one night in the noughties & asking the hostess who we were listening to on the hi-fi. It was The Bees, who I’d never heard of. I was quite smitten by them. I couldn’t tell you which album it was. In the years that followed I picked up their 2nd & 3rd cd’s, but I’d never heard this, their debut album, before now. It’s totally engaging. And well named. There are so many summery melodies here. Maybe that’s an Isle of Wight influence. But they (there were only 2 of the band on this recording) were not confined to one approach. The dub sound on No Trophy; the almost calypso approach on Binnel Bay; and the wonderful cover version of Os Mutantes’ A Minha Menina, which forced me to drag out my Best Of O.M. cd, to compare the 2. The Bees do a great job with it. I really enjoyed this.

Pleasant enough. Sunny, relaxed, fun to listen to. But the clear standout track is A Minha Menina, which is a barely-altered cover of a track by Os Mutantes Mutantes. Why is this album a must-listen? 2.5 stars, rounded up for being fun.

3.5

Cool background jazz that never calls too much attention to itself

I vaguely remember hearing the Bees on KEXP, mainly because they had to go by A Band of Bees in the US. Strikes me as another indie-rock flash in the pan from the early 2000s that made it on this list because they were from the UK. They were ok, I didn't dislike them. They just didn't strike me as some kind of must-listen experience.

Très relax, mais un peu trop molasse

so, it has a song from, maybe, a wes anderson film? or a tarantino film? or was it just an indie darling in 2002? the song im talking about is portuguese, they are british, there is dub, jazz, and postrock on this album. wtf is going on? for seers (serious)? it was pleasant enough.

Bees record was good. Relaxing all the way through. Very zen

Nope

The Good: We are getting washed in Vitamin D!!! The Bad: Don’t know if I need to get hit though.,.. The Ugly: All the terrible play on words we can come up with the bands name… nobody’s Bee’s knees What the fuck did I just listen to? Not that it was bad. Musically, it was actually pretty good. Again, what the fuck did I just listen to? Were the Bees searching for an identity and decided to just try out one too many styles? Also, Moog synth? Well… it was to be expected that Mr D picks any British band that has been nominated for a Mercury Prize… good for you. Listened, no need to listen again… 2* because I am pissed.

Some of the genre bending is actually super interesting to me. I just can’t get over the fact that it sounds like a group of college friends getting together doesn’t sound quite right.

Low energy. Not bad sounding, but fairly boring.

Hmmm boring

Musically quite o.k. but nothing remarkable on for me. And the vocals are not always my favour. I can easy imagine at least 1001 albums in this world that deserve more to be on this list.

Never heard this before today. Kind of easy to listen to alt popish kind of music. It's hard to describe but not bad to listen to. Plenty of variety, vocals and music are good. Music isn't anything amazing or mind blowing but it gets the job done. Might listen to this again if the mood strikes me but I wouldn't be disappointed if I never heard them again.

Meh

They’re definitely not the Aas.

It's ok, pretty forgettable and loses it's way toward the end

Meh, though I'd rather listen to these guys than a couple of the other recent albums

This feels like background music to the slowest part of a movie or a video game. Felt like I was gonna fall asleep

It was ok. Some great lyrics though. Never heard of this group and doubt I’ll ever hear them again.

Mmm-blippity-blop o-kay. This album feels made for great background coffee shop music. You'll need 2-3 coffees to get through it, though; it felt too long. 3

Anemic. Like the entire album was recorded while on a couch.

Like lofi before it was lofi became a youtube essential. Baffled how this is on the list.

Schön. Nett. Hör ich aber wahrscheinlich nicht nochmal

Some of it was ok but I don't like the reggae and 60s sounds.

A pretty weak album from start to finish. 2 stars or D.

Beer commercial music, a bit too chilled and middle of the road to grab the attention for any period of time. Innofensive, but you didn't want to turn it off

2 out of 5. This wasn't a bad album but nothing really grabbed me either.

It’s not my job to decide what’s on this list. But why is this on the list?

DNF...there may be a group of white men in the 00s who CAN make interesting jazz and reggae inspired indie hits but i dont think it is The Bees... just found this all so dull

Músicas com potencial mas que nunca vão passar das 17h-18h do Cooljazz

Melkoista hissimusiikkia.

Aika laimea mutta ihan kuunteli. 2,5⭐️⭐️

If I look up an album I've never listened to before and see that it has won the Mercury Prize, chances are I'm not going to like that album. Can The Bees change my mind? Nope. Tries too hard to be a lot of styles, only to be an album full of songs I'd never choose over what it tries to be. The Kinks? Burt Bachrach? A reggae track? No, no, and absolutely not.

B…zzzzz

I remembered nothing about this album after listening. The style surprised me at the time (it sounded so much older than it actually is), which I guess is neat.

Eclético, até demais, chega a ser uma falha. Totalmente irreconhecível, e confuso. Mas seu maior defeito é ser simplesmente meio chatinho. Não é ruim e nem mesmo desagradável, só chatinho. Melhor palavra possível para descrevê-lo, chatinho. Às vezes é groovy, às vezes psicodélico, mas sempre chatinho. O cover de Minha Menina é charmoso. 2/5

Me gustó, medio Parcels pero más jazz, más lo-fi. Me aburrió un poco, no es mi onda.

I was hopeful but ultimately underwhelmed.

This was really dull. I had never heard their music before so had no expectations, but this really was boring. So much so in fact, that I fell asleep for some of it. I woke up a couple songs later and it was doing the same thing it was before I fell asleep. It isn’t a 1 as it didn’t infuriate me, but it isn’t any better than a 2.

I was sort of almost feeling it until the A Minha Menina cover, literally shut up you will never be Os Mutantes

kind of boring. not for me

Ósköp þægilegt, en ekkert erindi á þennan lista. Alveg óþekkt og ekkert nýtt í þessu.

Absolutely nothing about this album makes me think I needed to hear it before I died, except for maybe A Minha Menina because I learned that that song is a cover of an Os Mutantes song and then I ended up listening to Os Mutantes and they're great. I needed to hear their album before I died so that all worked out.

I didn’t like this very much. There were a couple ok moments within a couple tracks. No desire to hear this again.

I can appreciate the quirkiness, eclecticism and occasional chill vibe here. Mattel would be proud seeing that every musical toy seems to have been used in the making of this. Would I turn the dial if this just happened to come on while wasting away on a summer day? Probably not. Would I actively seek this out to listen to on that same summer day? No.

I didn’t particularly like this. A little too high pitched falsetto at the beginning. Then the keyboard/organ sounds they were using sounded very nursery rhyme (punch bag) or circus progression. No trophy had a little island vibe that sounded off. The rest was all over the place. Didn’t feel like any continuity in an album. 2.5

Relaxing

Fairly expected quirky twee indie. The kind of album the manic pixie dream girl would recommend while the main character suffers an existential crisis. What's that? Of course there's a Mbira! It's fine, but doesn't need to be on the list - there's a reason it's not anymore! Best Tracks: Punchbag; A Mihna Menina; This Town

Derivative, generic, insignificant

It's a nice chill album. Akin to Zero 7 and Thievery Corporation, A Minha Menina is an outlier on here.

I had hope when the album started, but honestly a couple songs in, it was pretty stagnant and had nothing notable/memorable. Peak starbucks cafe background music, but not something I would ever go out of my way for. I feel that in this genre of music, there are much more successful artists that could have been chosen instead.

The first half of this album kicks ass The second half of this album sucks ass

4/10: mostly just twee fluff that spends a lot of time imitating things I’d rather be listening to. I really don’t like the white boy reggae bits, the psychedelic bits and the folk songs are forgettable. This is one of those albums in the proud British indie landfill tradition, hot amongst music journalists for a few weeks, forgotten thereafter. 100% never listening to this again. Best song: Lying in the Snow

SNORE

This is like an acoustic Gorillaz but if they weren't good

This was not interesting in any way.

I found it very boring it faded into annoying noise, it seemed to go on forever.

Below average

Ummmm i’m just gonna go right ahead and say I’m not a fan

De zang klinkt verdraaid (Punchbag) en/of verveeld (Binnel Bay). Het zal expres zijn, maar dat verdraaide geeft een naar auto-tune-effect. Dat verveelde trekt energie. Zou dat allemaal wat minder zou er een geinig plaatje overblijven. Iets wat het goed zou doen op de achtergrond. Door de zang moet ik van de vergeetbare 3 toch nog wat aftrekken.

Dit klinkt echt als van die muziek die op een festival op de eerste dag om 13.00 uur smiddags is geprogrammeerd op het kleinste podium. Of op een achterafveldje tijdens een bevrijdingsfestival in een middelgrote stad. Ik gok dat ze er best wel plezier in hebben, maar ze krijgen er hoogstens 2 consumptiebonnen en een portie sate voor. Wat dat betreft schijnen ze wel goed geld te hebben verdiend hiermee, want ze zijn veel in commercials te horen geweest in Engeland. Ok, good for them. Qua muziek is het wat gebaseerd op reggae-ska, met de ritmesecties en de caribische geluidjes. De zang doet een beetje verveeld aan, of ze zijn zo high als een garnaal. Dat zou best kunnen, want blijkbaar waren ze gefascineerd door ayahuasca. Nou, ik heb de wiki wel weer lekker uit kunnen pluizen, die was interessanter dan de muziek zelf. Ik vind het al met al niet zo boeiend. Het is ergens een vergeetbare 3, maar ik denk dat ik een keer streng ga zijn en er een vergeetbare 2 van maak. Ik zet gewoon liever iets anders op dan dit en vind het een vrij overbodige toevoeging aan de lijst.

Дуууже дивний альбом, чергова британська квота в цьому списку мабуть. Але я не почув абсолютно нічого що могло б вказати на унікальність чи винятковість Sunshine Hit Me. Хз, якесь аморфне нудне інді.

British hipster pop-rock was a thing? Well, now I know. And to the editors: you could have saved everyone a lot of time, and yourselves a lot of insults, had you just claimed that there were only about 250 albums that everyone should listen to before they die. Wankers. This abysmal 2* album should be cut and replaced with Dirty Heads' Swim Team. Similar happy-go-lucky vibe, but superior in music, lyrics, vibe . . . everything.

Interesting debut album. Unique approach but not grabbing me. Would give it a 2.5 if allowed but can't give it a 3 so rating of 2 it is.

I wish I understood the reasoning behind including an album like this that no one has ever heard of and has no hits or importance. It's barely been listened to on Spotify, I'm assuming the 100K users who've heard each song are likely doing the 1001 Album Challenge like me. This is fucking terrible and every song is annoying. Whiney vocals, stupid lyrics, basic musicianship. "Punchbag" and "Angryman" just suck, a bit more than the other songs. This is another masterpiece only the UK folks can enjoy. This band is from Isle Of Wight. I'm blown away by how many random bands from tiny towns in England are on this must-hear-before-you-die list. Nonsense. "Shite" as my friends in Wight might say! Complete garbage and a waste of my 39 mins and 56 seconds!! 2 stars, only because "Binnel Bay" was almost a good song.

Highlights: Sunshine, A Minha Menina. In a nutshell: indie tunes for a sunny day. It's not completely an indie rock album. You can hear some blues rock and downtempo influences on it. Perhaps jazz? An album that the band had fun recording. I liked it but it's nothing I'd write home about either. Overall: 4/10

Un slow álbum como bien como meh la verdad, me bajó toda la energía que me había dado el anterior

In a vacuum some of these songs are good. As an album though it feels like it doesn’t know who it wants to be. You go from a song that sounds like it should be on the banjo-kazooie soundtrack to a Jack Johnson B-side. Makes no sense to me.

Background music

i have trouble understanding how an album can be considered influential if none of the songs go together and create an album experience. there are some good songs on this album, but as a whole, this feels incomplete and scattered. cool album art tho!

Listened in the car. Was it pleasant and nice to listen to? Sure. Was it an essential and influential album that deserves to be on this list? I don't think so.

Well it was interesting, but not remarkable.

Ok if rather bland may listen again but nothing essential

Just fine

P liked this a lot more than K. Music was decent for him. K hated it on every level.

It was fine, there were points where I was like “this, I like this” but it was so unfocused that execution became an issue and some songs just didn’t work or, worse, inspire. As with quite a few albums in the list - I struggle with why I would listen to this again.

After listening to this album twice, I still don’t know which genre it is, because every single song sounds different from the next. Some might say it’s a good thing, I say it’s confusing. At least when most of the songs are’nt any good. The end of the album is much better than the beginning, but then it is too little too late. The Os Mutantes cover is ok, at least

Enjoyed it, but has no place in this list. Can imagine discovering it at the time and considering it a hidden gem. Hearing it now amongst these classics, it’s forgettable

I didn't really enjoy it. Not bad, just not for me.

This was a strange one.

chill, ambient,

lobbymuziek

Mellow summer tunes.

Kind of odd indi electronic rock. Didn't do much for me, wasn't sure why it was on the list

Meh

I started this album and wasn’t watching the lyrics. I swore the opening line to Punch Bag was “Youuuuuuu look like a f**k bagggg!” I had to start the song over to verify the words and was quite disappointed when it wasn’t. I’m thinking the vision for this album was to play slow, soothing music that is appealing to the ears, while softly disrupting the game with slightly jarring lyrics. If so, it worked. Not one of my favorite albums for sure but I’ll give the credit for the approach.

It's a bit above 2. I quite liked A Minha Menina. On the other hand, I skipped multiple songs after 10 seconds to a minute. Kept thinking, why is this here and what great album is it displacing?

Pleasant but didn't blow me away

I hadn’t listened to this in a while, and it was more disappointing than I recalled, all a bit sub Beta Band/Gomez, “A Minha Menina” remains a great tune though. Solid two stars.

light cheerful and utterly boring

2.5

Music ok...,lyrics and vocals not so much

Inoffensive but also unmemorable. The music itself was fine, but left little to no impression on me.

This is fun! Not sure everyone needs to listen to it, maybe just Jared Hess and a few other indie film directors.

Listened Before? N Man, this is super lame. This list has WAY too many British one-hit-wonders on it. Nobody needs to hear this before they die. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Punchbag

Yeah no thanks.

This is not influential... or good...

juz wiem skad sunshine w tytule i czemu uderzenie

It’s fitting that most of the Wikipedia page for this band and album are taken up by adverts that it’s featured in, since this is that kind of generic, inoffensive music. It’s pretty symptomatic of the dire state of British indie music in the first years of the 2000s that this is apparently one of the best in those years. I assume they added elements of reggae and doo-wop to try and escape from Britpop, but the end result is a bland mush that is far worse.

Another baffling inclusion on this list, being neither influential, innovative, interesting nor even particularly good. It’s perfectly fine lo-fi chill indie pop music as you might hear playing at any overpriced coffee shop or whilst on hold to a utility company. This makes sense as it’s serviceable as background/elevator music, but that’s all. It gets 2 stars because it wasn’t actually offensive to my ears, but Jesus was it boring. I listened to it twice today to write this review, and even so I still can’t remember a single moment from it. The cover really annoys me as well.

Favorite track(s): Sunshine, A Minha Menina Of the best tracks, one required an extra songwriter on top of the other two. The other is a cover. I think that says a lot.

Fine but forgettable (I feel like I’m using that phrase a lot lately). The Spanish song is cool. The rest has some sweet melodies but I can in no way see how this would be considered essential.

Had some good tracks but too many snoozers. If you made it an 8-9 track album that clocked in around 30-35 minutes, it could be solid. Enjoyed the last 2 songs to close it out

Pretty mediocre. Didn't really like the style of singing.

Невыразительный, скучный альбом. Явно не то, на что действительно стоит потратить время, я уверен, найдется 1000 и 1 альбом куда интереснее.

*2001. British indie rock. *This is odd. Every song sounds wildly different, with no coherent theme or cohesiveness that I could detect. *Some songs are okay. *Probably takes a couple of listens to grow on you, but one try is enough for me. Or maybe you need to be on psychedelics of some sort? RATING - 5/10

The Bees – Sunshine Hit Me (2002) On Day 51, Sunshine Hit Me felt like an album built for lounging and nothing more. Considering the production was done in a garden shed, it sounds remarkably good and serves as a nice soundtrack for chilling by the pool with a drink, but that’s where the appeal ends. I struggle to see why this is considered a "classic" worthy of the list; it feels like hipster music that likely just caught the attention of the book's UK-based authors. It’s a 2/5—decent for a specific mood, but lacks the substance to be anything more.

Maso

Fascinating album inclusion

In college there was only really one place to get coffee in town, a Starbucks. This album sounds like one of the CDs they would be selling at the counter. There is nothing wrong with this album. There also doesn't appear to be anything outright special about it either.