Collections Of Colonies Of Bees aren’t what you’d call a “dance” band. The long-running and ever-evolving Milwaukee group specializes in intricate post-rock architecture and volcanic explosions of sound, not four-on-the-floor stompers. And yet dancing is all over the group’s latest record, Celebrities. It’s there in “You Can Go Again” (“There’s lights on the floor / Just dance ’til you get to the door.”) It’s there in the title of “I Was A Dancer (He Was A Natural).” And it’s there again in closer “Ordinary Men” (“Can you just dance? / Can you just dance?”)
Is CoCoBees’ first LP in seven years destined to become a dance classic? Well, if you expand the definition of “dance” to “joyous and unencumbered movement brought on by the joyous and unencumbered creation of sound” then yeah, Celebrities is a banger.
Collections Of Colonies Of Bees first buzzed into existence way back in 1998, an instrumental side project of Pele guitarist Chris Rosenau and drummer Jon Mueller. Members have come and gone in the years since; these days, Rosenau serves as both the instrumental focal point and the group’s sole original member. (CoCoBees also teamed up with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon for a pair of Volcano Choir records in 2009 and 2013.) Serving as the current vocal focal point is Marielle Allschwang, on board since 2016. Live, it’s not unusual to see her shimmy across the stage, lost in the music. That simple joy comes through on record, too.
Opener “Letters” and follow-up “You Can Go Again” perfectly encapsulate the modern CoCoBees framework: the slow-burn buildup, the free-form lyrics, the baritone purr of guitarist/vocalist Daniel Spack vs. the crystalline call of Allschwang, the cinematic explosions of guitar-solo catharsis. “You can, you can, you can, you can get out,” Allschwang hiccups on the irresistible chorus of “You Can Go Again,” her voice another instrument in the gloriously crowded ensemble. (Drummer Ben Derickson and bassist Matt Skemp fill out the lineup.)
“Get Lit” and “I Was A Dancer (He Was A Natural)” take opposing approaches, the former bursting to life in its opening seconds and the latter spending most of its runtime as a hushed, pared-down hymn. “A Tricky Sin” adds a jittery strut to the proceedings; a country self-cover of the song, from CoCoBees’ accompanying three-song Rhinestones EP, is a weepy winner.
The group is once again at its best on “Strangers,” a bubbling brook that eventually bursts into a full-blown tidal wave. Electronic glitches make their way into the mellow “What We Loved ’em For,” and closer “Ordinary Men” ties it all together in tender/towering fashion. “Can you just dance? / Can you just dance? / Will you be with me forever?” Allschwang sings in the song’s final moments. “You can go again, get through / Get closer too.”
Celebrities is a meticulously and painstakingly constructed piece of work (liner notes thank producer Todd Rittmann for “the seemingly unending task of organizing far too many tracks recorded over six years in varying spaces,”) but it also feels like the effortless product of musicians beholden only to themselves. “Dance like no one’s watching,” they say. Despite [gestures broadly], Collections Of Colonies Of Bees are doing just that. It’s hard not to give in and dance with them.
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