The Bees (UK band)

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For the US band of the same name, see The Bees (US band)

The Bees (a.k.a. A Band of Bees)

Background information
Origin	Isle of Wight, England
Genre(s)	Indie rock
Years active	2001 – present
Label(s)	Virgin Records (formally We Love You) Astralwerks
Website	www.thebees.info
Members
Paul Butler Aaron Fletcher Kris Birkin Michael Clevett Tim Parkin Warren Hampshire

The Bees (known in United States as A Band of Bees) are an English band from Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. Although they are classified as a indie rock group, they play a particular style of music that is somewhat hard to categorize, as the band have a colourful range of influences, such as 60's rock, reggae and jazz.

The band consist of:

Paul Butler - lead vocals, guitar, piano, saxophone, trumpet, clarinet, mandolin, drums, percussion
Aaron Fletcher - bass guitar, guitar, piano, drums, percussion, vocals
Kris Birkin - guitar, vocals
Michael Clevett - drums, percussion, bass guitar, hammond organ, vocals
Tim Parkin - trumpet, bass guitar, piano, rhodes, percussion, vocals
Warren Hampshire - hammond organ, piano, celeste, acoustic guitar, percussion, vocals

The Bees have so far released three albums: 2002's Mercury Prize-nominated Sunshine Hit Me (which was acclaimed by critics for being recorded in Butler's own garden shed), its' 2004 major label follow-up Free the Bees, and the band's most recent work, Octopus. The first two albums feature songs that have been used in British television advertisements, which are partially responsible for the band's recognition: Sunshine Hit Me's "A Minha Menina", a cover of an Os Mutantes track, appeared in a Citroën car commercial, whilst "Chicken Payback" and "Wash in the Rain", both from Free the Bees, were incorporated in adverts for Sure Deodorant for Men and Sainsbury's, respectively.