{$Band of Bees} second album {^Free the Bees} is a rollicking, breathtaking romp through the Sixties, calling to mind classic band after classic band but also conjuring up a modern and original sound of their own. {&"These Are the Ghosts,"} the CD's opening track, gives us echoes of the {\psychedelic} era {$Small Faces}, {$the Kinks} circa {^Village Green Preservation Society}, and even, at times, {$Pink Floyd} circa {^Piper at the Gates of Dawn}. There are moments on {&"No Atmosphere"} where they sound like {$the Small Faces} quoting {$the Beatles} obliquely from {^Rubber Soul}, and elsewhere it suddenly sounds as though the ghost of {$George Harrison} has stepped into the studio to throw in some licks from a {^White Album} jam. And incidentally, the studio in question where this album was cut was, indeed, {@EMI Studio No. 2}, the very same that {$the Beatles} used, so {$the Bees} re-creating elements of {$the Beatles}' sound is no accident. {&"Chicken Payback"} sounds like some discovery from the vaults of {@Stax Records}, except that it's not -- it's an original, and it is original, and could pass for some 40-year-old {\Northern soul} discovery. {&"The Russian"} comes off like a piece of {\soundtrack} music in search of a movie, circa {#Blow-Up}, like for a chiller ({#The Deadly Bees}, perhaps?) or {\spy} picture where the producers couldn't afford {$John Barry}. And {&"I Love You"} shows off a lyricism and elegance that recalls the {\soul} and {\psychedelic} heyday at {@EMI}, all shimmering guitars, sweet understated harmonizing, and a horn section. {&"Hourglass"} carries us into a rarefied trippy territory somewhere between {$Pink Floyd} and {$the Small Faces}, with an exquisitely memorable chorus accompanied by electric piano, organ, and drums, and some vaguely {$Byrds-ish} guitar, and {&"Go Karts"} recalls {$the Small Faces} at their cheerful, Cockney-inflected best. And the album finisher, {&"This Is the Land,"} melds radiant choruses, a trippy melody, and little touches of guitar copped from {^Between the Buttons} and keyboards off of the first two {$Floyd} albums except it's all a lot more cheerful than {$Pink Floyd} ever was. {^Free the Bees} is all worth hearing, a lot more than once, and it could be the Album of the Year -- the only question is if that year is 2004 or 1968. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide