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Stereo Six: Me Like Bees Buzz About the Sounds that Influenced ‘Disco Two Step’

Me Like Bees joins us for a Stereo Six feature, running down six of their favourite albums/songs that influenced their new album ‘Disco Two Step’ (Honey Pit).

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One indie rock record that may have captured your attention recently is Disco Two Step, the new release from indie rockers Me Like Bees. Out as of October 14th via Honey Pit, the eleven-track album is heavy on danceable, guitar-driven rock n’ roll, a more modern take on the 2000s, back-to-basics guitar rock of The Strokes, The White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, and Modest Mouse. Disco Two Step is a record that does not shy away from its affection for all of that great early 2000s indie pop and rock. It encapsulates the dynamic, imperfect, almost flawed sound of that era, which speaks to the influence that era of music still has on newer and up-and-coming bands of today.

Me Like Bees was formed in Missouri by Pete Burton, a recent college dropout at the time, and Luke Sheafer, who was making his way as a gas station clerk. They met while playing high school football in Kansas City, lost touch, and then somehow found each other years later in the same college town in southwest Missouri. With their love of early 2000s rock, there was essentially no option but to start a band and deliver their take on the music of their youth.

Today, Me Like Bees join us for a Stereo Six, running down six of their favourite albums and songs that have had a significant impact on them as a group.

1. Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand (2004, Domino Recording Company)

“The frantic, percussive style guitars playing just slightly off each other on this album made a huge impact on us early on. We tried more than once to emulate this in several of our songs. We’ve always been drawn to songs centered around simple guitar hooks, and this album has plenty of that. We also really enjoyed the simple, understated drums on this record as well. Sometimes all you need is a good dance beat for the rest of the music to jump around on.”

2. David Bowie – The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (1972, RCA)

David Bowie is a creative genius, in my opinion, whether it be reaching me through melody, song arrangement, lyrics, overall feel, or just their fuck it attitude that glaringly explodes through all of their writing. There is definitely something to be respected about someone who just does whatever they want, however they want to do it, with little or no regard to what others might think. From a creative standpoint, I can’t think of much more important or inspirational than that.”

Artwork for the albums Me Like Bees list in this Stereo Six

3. The Killers – Smile Like You Mean It (2004, Island)

“We obviously could pick this entire record, but particularly this song is one that we keep coming back to. The driving nature of the drums and bass along with the super plucky catchy guitar part that cuts through on the verses. It’s all so great. We love the subdued delivery of the chorus, especially the tongue-in-cheek vibe that creates when talking about ‘smiling like you mean it’ which is great.”

4. Bon Iver – Blood Bank (2009, Jagjaguwar)

“When thinking about what inspires us, it always seems to come back to something that takes us to another place. Something that moves beyond words. Something that challenges everything we’ve learned about creativity on our journey up until this very moment. Something that no matter how many times you come back to it, you are always able to find something different that inspires you. We try to maintain a constant state of inspiration as fellow creators. It’s important to actively seek inspiration at all times. I always seem to find something new from a creative standpoint at each and every listen.”

5. Tyler, The Creator – Call Me If You Get Lost (2021, Columbia)

“What’s so great about this record is the idea that Tyler wanted to get ‘back to rapping’ despite what most of his fans loved about his previous (Grammy-winning) record, IGOR. CMIYGL sees Tyler paying much homage to the mixtape era of hip-hop and it’s great to hear. We love the seamless transitions from some of the tracks, that maybe are a little confusing when listening to the songs on their own, but really take a cohesive turn when listened to in context of the record. That really saw its way onto our new record, in terms of some of the transitions and such we worked out.”

6. The Killers – Pressure Machine (2021, Island)

“This is such a cool (slight) departure from most of their stuff. Brandon Flowers is really just taking his turn at storytelling, but still keeping the level of song writing that he’s always known to bring to The Killers. We prefer the regular version of the record (as opposed to the abridged version), because it helps flesh out the town and people that Brandon is writing about. Love that additional layer of world-building.”

Artwork for the album ‘Disco Two Step’ by Me Like Bees

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