HOLED up in their own studio in the Isle of Wight, The Bees had obviously been listening to a lot of Neil Young and The Specials when they recorded Octopus, their third release.

The result is a jumble of styles and a record which would sit as comfortably in the 1960s or the 1980s as it does in 2007.

The verdict? Octopus definitely works.

Opening track Who Cares What The Question Is, with its blues-laden guitars, suggests Young at his peak, while Love In The Harbour could be taken straight from a Buffalo Springfield LP.

Left Foot Stepdown switches the mood effortlessly to ska, and the quality continues right to the catchy, and truncated, End Of The Street.

The Bees have made us wait three years for this follow-up to the critically acclaimed Free The Bees. It has been worth it.