Album Review: No! Not The Bees! - 'Self Respect'

So these guys presumably took their name from the absurdly weird Nicholas Cage movie, The Wickerman (a movie that everyone should at least see once in their life), which is probably the best reason to check out the new release from these five young Melbournians.

In what probably comes as no surprise to a vast majority music lovers, No! Not The Bees! take a lot of chapters from the books of A Day To Remember, Chunk! No Captain Chunk and Australia’s very own Divide & Conquer. So much so that it's self-depreciating, which is probably what this EP should have been called. So you know the drill for this style of music. Massive gang vocals, cheesy, poppy synth lines, short and tired breakdowns, lacklustre screams, lyrics about chilling with mates, plenty of catchy vocal hooks and pop-punk melodies are more abundant than the number of other imitators to this very style.

‘Dynamic Entry’ is a short 20 second song with the EP’s title being dropped via gang vocals and then chugs and breakdowns help lead it into ‘Off The Chain’. Once this short, cliche song has floated through your ear canals, you've basically heard all there is to hear from No! Not The Bees! Everything is just seemingly recycled under different names and extended out for another 15 minutes. But to be fair, it is a relatively decent - and dare the word be uttered - fun, 15 minutes that follows. One thing that does surprise however, is that there is actually no cheesy "stripped back" acoustic track on offer here. Though that may be saved for the next EP, or for a future full-length, so don't hold your breath for too long.

At the end of the day, this is a very tired and very tested style. Yeah, it's all really catchy stuff, but so is herpes. Thankfully, the worst this EP may do is bore you, instead of, you know, ruining your life.

'Self Respect' is a rather cliché release for a pop-punk/easycore band these days, but it's a short and a relatively fun listen. Basically, your opinion of this EP will mainly depend on how much of a fan you are, or are not, of bands like A Day To Remember and Chunk! No Captain Chunk.

1. Dynamic Entry

2. Off the Chain

3. Johnny Oats

4. Learning Curve

5. Two Left Feet

6. Slick Move, Slugger!