Honeyrude
The Color Blue
(Shifting Sounds)
Last
December, when I first happened upon the song/video “Roger McClain” by Honeyrude, I had the sudden feeling
that I hadn’t felt since the early songs from The Joy Formidable. The song
has an energy, spark, and call to action that transported me to another place,
reminding me why I love music so much. Each song they’ve sneaked out over the past
several months has had the same effect on me.
Their music sounds so effortless and perfect, as if the alternately stinging
and dreamy guitar-leads (Ian Lund) interlocking
with the flawless rhythm section (Billy
Kunath – bass, Paul Goetz –
drums) have always been out there in the atmosphere awaiting for some brilliant
musicians to collect this amazing bounty for our ears to feast. Then you add Jess Leadbetter’s wonderfully chameleon-like vocals and open-ended,
thought provoking lyrics and things just get better!
The last
time I wrote about an album on this blog thing dates back to June 5th
last year, when I wrote about Kristin
Welchez’s complete discard of the amazing Dum Dum Girls legacy in favor of an embrace of top 40 dance pop with
Kristin Kontrol. I kind of felt like that was the last review I
would ever write (here). Somehow, it pointed out to me how criticism
of any art is truly insignificant and a waste of time (though what I have historically done is not criticism as much as recommend), not just because
I really have never found an audience, but because all art should be allowed to
find its way, and all artists need to be to do what feels true to
them. Yet, here I am again, at the least
momentarily, because I cannot hide away my love of this debut album! I have to shout it from the mountaintops!
Like fellow
Austin, Texas band, Magnet School (whose
Brandon Tucker had a hand in mixing
this), Honeyrude take the more aggressive approach of the so-called “shoegaze”
music from the early 90s, so much so, that I hesitate to mention the dreaded
shoegaze term (twice now, dammit!).
Songs like the closing “Falling Backwards” and pounding “Sorry I’m Late”
don’t evoke that era at all. While the
aforementioned “Roger McClain” is a straight forward pop song (whose message
all of us trapped in some sort of purgatory of our own making need to listen to
and act upon) with Johnny Marr-ish
light to the touch guitar layers that get gradually more loud and intense as
the song progresses before breaking out into a brief, blistering solo. Meanwhile, the opening “Something About
Milwaukee” evokes the chiming majesty of early Adorable crossed with last two album Pale Saints, as does the spectacular and yearning “Flowers,” as
Leadbetter sings of a perfect love with the tinged realization that it’s not
possible. The opening explosions of “Ring
Ring Ring” melt into sparse, reflective verses, calling to mind some of the
bands of the mid-80s L.A. neo-psychedelic scene, before closing with an exciting
instrumental flourish. Speaking of
which, the title track contains a wonderful dreamscape, much like a Slowdive epic, but once the drums go
double time, the song contains a jam session that feels like it should go on
forever and never be quite loud enough. To
me “Lover in Denial” calls to mind Chrome-era
Catherine Wheel and first album Concrete Blonde (“Dance Along the Edge”).
I use a lot
of these comparisons freely, but in fact, these are simply touchstones. Honeyrude, sound wholly themselves. This debut is simply excellent. They sound like seasoned veterans at the
height of their creative powers and cannot recommend this record enough. They have lifted my spirits and helped
provide me with a dose of fire that came along at a much needed time. What more can one ask for?
Honeyrude "Roger McClain"
