Go Tell The Bees ep

3 Daft Monkeys

3 Daft Monkeys are virtually an institution of the festival circuit, they can cheer the muddiest punter onto their feet. The Daft Monkey sound is a unique mix of fiddle, guitar and electric bass, but it's the incredible range of rhythmic influences they cram into every song that makes them sound so big and bouncy. Once stirred to your feet by the rhythm they go that extra mile and also engage your brain, quite simply they write excellent songs that work on every level.

The first new recorded material from the Cornwall trio since the delicious Hubbadillia of 2004 has a lot to live up to. That was an album full of catchy and upbeat acoustic jiggery that perfectly summed up this trios appeal. The Go Tell The Bees ep has three new tracks and a remastered Astral Eyes from Hubbadillia.

It's delightful, in fact I'm desperately trying to avoid saying it's the bees knees (bloody hell! it slipped out). In fact the second track for me is the clincher Paranoid Big Brother is classic 3DM; Jamie Waters Bass drives it like a train; Tim Ashton's guitar work is a steel strung chorus of glee; Athene Roberts fiddle flies about like a firefly; the vocals run up and down your spine and the production is deservedly epic.

They have been playing some of these tracks live for a while before recording them, and it shows in the tightness of their performance, you just know they'll match it live. This ep is a great taster of what's in store...

Iain Hazlewood