Another basement Saturday night: guitar amp stacked on the washing machine, mic taped to a milk crate and propped up on a broken stool. Ten years in and Guided By Voices was about to end, still stuck with the 4-track that liked to chew on tape, barely booking shows past the Ohio state line. They knocked off tunes in a take or two, dumped on some overdubs, left the creaks and hisses and missing beats, glued it all up with bubblegum melodics and capped the night with beer. But once Bee Thousand stumbled up those basement stairs and out into the daylight, a line of critics was already forming at the front porch door with open arms and puckered lips. The band just thought it was taking a last dying gasp. Instead, they exhaled a masterpiece.

Honey and fennel replace Drambuie in this lo-fi spin on the classic Rusty Nail…

BEE THOUSAND:

• 2 ½ oz. blended scotch
• ½ oz. honey syrup
• 1 tbsp. fennel fronds
• 2 inch slice of fennel
• dashes of Peychaud’s bitters

Muddle the fennel and fennel fronds with the honey syrup. Add ice, along with the scotch and bitters and stir, straining into an ice filled rocks glass. Garnish with a sprig of fennel if you have it and you’re in the mood.