i haven't changed my underwear for three days," drawls She Keeps Bees' Jessica Larrabee, unapologetically-it's clear the only bathing the stripped-down Brooklyn duo require tonight features whiskey and throats. Laced with the gawky cool of a young Cat Power, Larrabee douses further comparisons in primal blues washed direct from the Mississippi delta. 'Gimmie' holds attention like a spell, and the long before the possessed closing handclaps of 'Ribbon' evaporate, it's plainly obvious that impact this filthy renders personal hygiene a trifling concern. Adam Kennedy
NME 9/09
Singer jessica larrabee provides wailing vocals that lament across the whole record and visceral guitar hooks as crude as they come. add into the mix sparse and sparing drums provided by andy laplant and it comes together in a raw sound of dirty and gritty blues numbers so rich and thick that you almost have to wade through them. mark reynolds NARC 8/09
what distinguishes this pair is the room given to Jessica Larrabee's slow-burning scold of a voice in the clean unflashy production. Andy LaPlant's percussion has a sulky intensity, and a quick YouTube search shows the duo is even better live. FINANCIALTIMES 8/09
Larrabee’s voice and songwriting style bring some truly stellar vintages to mind (Nina Simone, Cat Power, Patti Smith, even Janis Joplin), yet she and LaPlant succeed in keeping all these wonderfully bad-ass sounds, down-at-heel woozy blues, gritty explosions and sexy, yearning hooks from simply aping what’s gone before. Tracks such as the gnarly Gimmie and the super-charged Release keep you riveted to the stereo. Nests really is just like honey. Jim Carroll
IRISH TIMES 4/09
When bands play with raw sound, their vibe can break or seal the deal. Jessica Larrabee basically kicks ass. Her antics between songs were awe inspiring and the music itself was a megaphone of alto-agressive-soul-rock that can only be relished live. She Keeps Bees are the Heartless Bastards of the east coast except that they keep it simple as a two piece, and Larrabee’s personality actually matches their energy.
QUIET COLOR http://quietcolor.com/qc/?p=2123
Right before them , I was treated to the blues stylings of She Keeps Bees. I had heard of this duo before and I must say this was a rare instance of a band really living up to their hype! Jessica Larrabee has one of those voices that just screams instant classic through every song, and the bombastic guitar and drums is a solid one-two punch to the gut. FUCK THAT NOISE http://fckthatnoise.blogspot.com/2009/01/forest-fire-n-she-keeps-bees-knees.html
Jess Larrabee loves grunge. She must, because "Nests" is rife with it.
Okay, back up. Buy this album, even though I said the thing there about grunge. It's worth your money, as the four faces indicate. Also, it doesn't really sound like grunge. The big comparisons I've seen are to the Black Keys and the White Stripes, but there's something more here. It's like grunge in the way that grunge was like some totally effed-up blues on acid, right there at the end in 1997 when Prodigy and Moby were taking over. Think Nirvana's later work - In Utero, Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, and the MTV Unplugged stuff. Stripped down, raw, angry, full of meaty guitar hooks and violence. I've also seen Jess compared to early Cat Power and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Meh. Those are easy. Too easy. I'm going grunge, because nobody else has done it yet. Layne Staley mixed with equal parts Ledbelly and Patti Smith. There's a comparison for you. I always thought Marcy Playground was the genre's death rattle but the more I listen to "Nests" the more I think the music is alive and well, albeit in this stripped, sparse form, gone underground and subsisting on decade-old tins of cream corn. If grunge was about rage and 800 pound guitar licks, this shit fits, man, even if Virgin, Sony and Atlantic aren't interested anymore.
PIIYF.com 11/08
4 out of 5 faces
Although all the comparisons to Jess's musical stylings are all generally legit, I'm adding Jim Morrison to the list based on the Mercury Lounge performance last night.
amazing show at death by audio this past saturday. i am addicted to your songs, so happy to have stumbled across you. can't wait to catch another show....your albums have literally been the soundtrack to my past few months....and i can't thank you enough for keeping me sane.
It was so wonderful playing with you! I'm a big fan. Your cd will be playing in our tour van for the next month. hope to see you again soon. come to San Franciso!
Love your music, hope to see you guys in Montreal sometime soon! My friends from Le Trouble are playing in your great city this week, if you want to check them out: http://www.myspace.com/voiciletrouble Thanks for the great music, take care!!!
Join us this coming Friday 30 October when Dig Deeper brings the four surviving members of Chicago soul group the Green Berets for their first NYC show ever, and first show anywhere in nearly 20 years, this time backed by the Divine Soul Rhythm Band, who will also be opening the night backing the sassy Sweet Divines. As always, DJ Honky and Mr. Robinson spin soul and funk 45s for the dancefloor before and after until 4am.
Last Dig Deeper until January 2010!$10 advance will call tickets still available via Ticketweb - save money by reserving early...tickets will be $15 at the door if we have not sold out. Look forward to seeing you there!
