Crack

14/20

Dig On is the third record from Brooklyn duo She Keep Bees, and plumbs very much the same swampy, bluesy depths as last effort Nests. Undoubtably their most potent element is Jessica Larrabee’s voice, a sultry croon, simultaneously vulnerable and amazingly assured, complimenting the bluesy fuzz with a touch of the Polly Harveys.

Tunes are based around simple grooves, but still offer a refreshing and enjoyable take on that oversubscribed blues-rock template. Opener Saturn Return and later, Sister Beware nail it - succinct, melodic and instantly memorable. The album as a whole may lack a real sense of dynamism, but centrepiece All or None/Dark Horse offers a potential glimpse into the band’s future, the All or None section seeing Larrabee’s soaring vocals cutting through a stripped-down beat, building to an ominous, rhythmic second half, intoning ‘You may paint him white, but he’s still a dark horse.’



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Words: Geraint Davies

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