Drawn From Bees: Cautionary Tales For The Lionhearted

Drawn From Bees: Cautionary Tales For The Lionhearted
Australian band, Drawn From Bees seem like one of those bands teetering on the thin line between pretentious and genius. In a Coheed and Cambria-esque move, their first four albums created a concept box set released over a two year period. I think we can all agree that is a little crazy but the move gained them a considerable amount of attention in their native Australia. Considering Australia conquered, the band has set their sights on the international scene. Cautionary Tales For The Lionhearted is the band’s first release in America. The EP contains five songs, taking tracks from each of the band’s studio albums.
If I had to describe Drawn From Bees’ sound, I would say it is what The Decemberists‘ 2009 exploration into prog rock should have sounded like. Drawn From Bees uses very similar instrumentation to Colin Meloy and company but their vocals sound closer to Muse.
The album’s opening track “Long Tooth Setting Sun” reminds me of Linkin Park‘s 2010 single, “The Catalyst” with its heady concept and chanted group vocals. But unlike Linkin Park, Drawn From Bees goes for a chamber pop sound instead of neo-prog electronica. The result is a song that is really catchy but also interesting and engaging.
Other tracks like “The East Wood Fox” reminds me of The Rolling Stones‘ “Miss You” but with less raw sound. The track features a drum beat that keeps it rolling along like a train and guitar arpeggios that fill out the track.
What really bums me out about Cautionary Tales For The Lionhearted is that it is so short. The EP gives American audiences a taste of why the group has received critically acclaim and commercial success in their native land but it does not give us much of a taste. It is just enough to get a feel for the group’s sound without enough to let us explore it too much. It left me wanting more from the band but not enough to want to pay import prices to get their CDs.
Rating: 8.3/10
MP3: Drawn From Bees “Long Tooth Setting Sun”
Buy: iTunes or Amazon

1 Comment

  • Weddy says:

    Summer sounds richly delivered by an accomplished band…well worth buying

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