Dirty Honey - Dirty Honey

Rock Media UK
Jul 18, 2022
3 min read

Album review by; Kayleigh

Dirty Honey are a well-loved group of rockers with a country and blues edge, their self-titled album gives listeners an 8-track selection of what these guys can do.

They are one of those bands that have gained a lot of attention reasonably quickly. They may feel as though they are just bringing back a sound from a couple generations ago but when you actually listen to them, they are so much more than that. It's not surprising that their single 'When I'm Gone' made them the first unsigned band to reach number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs Charts and their first headline U.S tour sold out every date.

Dirty Honey's self-titled project comes rolling in with the opening track 'California Dreamin''. A riff that happily greets you and welcomes you in is quickly joined by these upbeat vocals that remind me a lot of the likes of Axl Rose or Brian Johnson. 'California Dreamin'' isn't a favourite of mine out of the eight songs but it is a nice intro into the album.

Second track 'The Wire' is the same kind of thing as 'California Dreamin'' for me. 'The Wire' is a little bit more fun thanks to the rhythm section but for me I didn't really get into 'Dirty Honey' till the third track 'Tied Up'. 'Tied Up' was very nearly my favourite song on here only being outdone by one a little later on. This piece feels dirtier and groovy with a super catchy chorus and fun high vocals to compliment the instrumentals. The whole song just feels like it rises and rises getting more exciting as it goes on and I have to say I am obsessed with the vocals in here and how we're even treated to a little acapella moment at the end.

Some favourite moments of mine from the album come next with the really cool and groovy riff that features in 'Take My Hand' which feels like it could happily fit in a funk or grunge song but instead is blended perfectly into this rock track. Then my favourite solo which goes to 'Gypsy' this one just explodes with energy rocketing the song into a summery piece that could fill festival arena's. My absolute favourite song on the album though has to go to 'No Warning'. The rhythm carries you through as Labelle shows off his talents vocally. 'No Warning' feels carefree and shamelessly expresses all the talent that Dirty Honey have to offer.

With two tracks left I found 'The Morning' to be just kind of more of the same thing but closing track 'Another Last Time' really caught my attention. The melodic bluesy tone is one you could imagine singing along with in some dive bar at the end of the night. Lyrically I found this to be the strongest on 'Dirty Honey' and is quickly one that you can be singing along with. 'Another Last Time' for me stands out against the other songs on the album and even with being slower still has this feel-good factor about it that makes you want to listen again and again (or at least I have been).

In my opinion 'Dirty Honey' is an album worth checking out. My main downside is that it only features the eight songs and I just wanted to hear more but then I suppose eight really good tracks is better than twelve mediocre ones. 'Dirty Honey' has this high sort of summer festival energy to it with a similar feeling to just being out with your mates having good time. There's nothing with it to not like.

4 out of 5

Dirty Honey are;

Marc Labelle: Vocals

John Notto: Guitar

Justin Smolian: Bass

Corey Coverstone: Drums

Tracklist;

01. California Dreamin'

02. The Wire

03. Tied Up

04. Take My Hand

05. Gypsy