The Bees - Sunshine Hit Me (2001)

Sunshine Hit Me is the debut album from the British band The Bees. At the time when the album was recorded the band only comprised Paul Butler and Aaron Fletcher, who wrote, performed and recorded the album alone using a home studio in Butler's parents' garden. Both Butler and Fletcher had been active in the Isle of Wight music scene for a while, performing in local indie/electronic outfits Pnu Riff and, more recently, the Exploding Thumbs. Butler had also guested on several other albums produced on the island, including some by Max Brennan.

The album is eclectic and summery, with a range of influences that include psychedelia, Jamaican dub, reggae, indie, 1960s rock and others. It earned a Mercury Music Prize nomination and also featured in the 2005 and 2008 editions of the book 1001 Albums: You Must Hear Before You Die by Michael Lydon.[1] The main single "A Minha Menina" was used in a Citroën car advertisement, which also helped the band to get noticed. The track was also used in an advert for Magners Irish Cider in December 2008, as well as a Mars advertisement in Australia in 2002.

The band followed the album with several tours, which resulted in the band expanding into its current lineup in order to play the material live. However, all the members had played with Butler before on the island, whether in his other projects or simply in informal jams (whilst Butler and Fletcher produced and performed the album themselves, the entire six-piece is credited on the back sleeve). After the success of the album, the band signed to Virgin, and released their next album Free The Bees in 2004.