Album Review

Bumblebeez – Prince Umberto & The Sister Of ILL

• 3rd Apr 2008

The brand new 16 track album from Australian duo Bumblebeez sounds, in their own words,like ‘kidsbangingsaucepansdrinkingcocacolaandchangingthechannelsevery10seconds’…and they are not exaggerating.

Brother and sister team Chris and Pia (who goes by the stage name Queen ViLa) Colona have constructed a mad cut-n-paste monster of an album, but for all its eccentricity it’s a very listenable one. From reggae to rave, it’s got all you could possibly want.

Released by Modular, the label du jour who also have Chromeo, Klaxons and New Young Pony Club on their books, the Bumblebeez offering is a serious hip-pop-dance contender.

There are choirs, extracts of film dialogue, Gameboy synths and urban sound effects that give it a great mix-tape feel. At first impressions the album reminds you of M.I.A, fusing hip-hop and dance elements seamlessly and keeping you interested with some international flavours – Bollywood singers, Brazilian carnivals and Amazonian jungles can all be picked out at times.

Highlights pop up through the whole album, and each listen reveals a new layer. Second track, Black Dirt, sounds like a mix between The Go! Team and Simian Mobile Disco, except for a bit of a Kanye West style bridge. Radio Fabulous starts off as a Beastie Boys eighties ode to pirate radio, featuring listeners ringing up with requests, until an Abba-inspired disco snippet leads into the next track.

Former single Dr Love is a well layered, dark dance number with an electronic riff that sounds like a number being typed into a mobile phone. The song finishes, and there are a few moments of silence, until the phone-melody suddenly comes back with a vengeance, and gradually builds up once again somehow sounding even better.

Freak Ya Loneliness is a more ‘traditional’ guitar-band number, with a Strokes-esque garage flavour full of reverb and guts that shows, as if you needed any more proof that the Bumblebeez just don’t fit neatly in one box.

After all the craziness, My Girl is a stripped-down, slow lament – just voice and guitar – a bit early Muse, which as synths and drums are quietly added, builds to a sweeping crescendo that dissolves into white noise. The Game is a catchy interlude that sounds like the electro soundtrack to an early 90s computer fighting game.

Rio is almost radio-friendly, featuring Queen ViLa’s punchy vocals, but these are nothing compared to her skill on the urban Pump Up The Bass where she lets her rapping ability loose.

The most original album since The Gorillaz’ Demon Days, Prince Umberto and the Sister of Ill features a little bit of everything, and will certainly keep your ears awake. It is an unpredictable album by a band that pay little attention to the ‘rules’, but in these bland indie chart days that is a refreshing and exciting change.