I bought honeyhoney's debut album (ugh, I can already feel the pretension coating me. "Debut album"? I fucking hate that term. Let's try that again) or rather, their first CD, First Rodeo today. Today was even one of those days that calls for a new album - the sky was clear, the sun was bright, it was brisk and coldish, I was humming tired old songs that I've overplayed horribly but still manage to love... you know those days. So anyway, I'd already seen the "Little Toy Gun" video and played it to unending repeat on iTunes (and somehow it never gets old!) and I felt it was probably time to invest in their CD.
Color me not disappointed. I am developing some serious feelings about this CD, and it's pretty safe to say that they're reciprocated and that I might get a prom date out of it.
So because this is easier, we'll take it track by track and break it down:
"Black Crows": Nice intro to the CD as a whole. The music (Ben Jaffe) is super-jazzy with more defined guitar and drum additions. So kinda jazz-piano-meets-upbeat-folk. The vocals (Suzanne Santo) are amazing. Kinda bluesy on this one, like folk if more folk singers had more power to their voices (I notice that they tend to be lacking on that front).
"Little Toy Gun": Oh, this song. Still my favorite song on the album. Upbeat, fun, and about a girl and her gun. You really can't go wrong with that combination! It's kind of poppy, but pop like the Raconteurs, not pop like Britney. It sounds like something that could infect the radio and nobody would complain.
"Sugarcane": Slower, quieter than the first two songs. The music is still on that folky kick with sharper drums. Suzanne sounds jazzy here. She reminds me of Norah Jones here, but (again) with more power to her voice. Norah's kind of wispy sometimes, but that's never a problem with Suzanne. She also has a lot of emotion in her voice - when she does the fun songs, you can tell she's getting into it, and with the slower ones she pours her heart into her voice.
"Not for Long": Sounds like something off of the Wreckers's CD (remember them? Michelle Branch's new project where she got all countrified?), but with a kick. Bluesy as all hell, it's about moving on and getting over someone. There is an honest-to-god fiddle in this song - not like a country fiddle or an Ocean Avenue fiddle, though, which makes it that much better. Short but sweet.
"Bouncing Ball": This sounds like one of those songs that plays in an indie movie after the main conflict has happened and we're watching a montage of the characters all doing their own thing, just brooding away, and we know that somehow they will all patch this up later. Trufax, guys. I love it and it's perfect to walk home to in the cold as the sun's about to set, but it really is that song. Think Juno where she's having that breakdown in her car after Mark was a douchebag. This song totally could have played there.
"Come On Home": More blues! I kind of love this blues-jazz-folk-indie-pop sound they have going on here. This song is blues/folk if Billie Holiday added her vocals.
"Give Yourself to Me": Got the same kind of upbeat vibe as "Little Toy Gun" with less of the radio-star vibe. It's fun and bouncy as hell, though. I could hear a more standard alternative band do this, but with less of the violin and acoustic guitar. Song is made for mad dancing in your bedroom.
"David": Quiet, quiet, quiet. Another Norah-esque song with that folky kick and rock-ballad drums. I like it and could see this hitting the indie market hard (if it hasn't already, I don't know, I don't keep up with that stuff very well).
"Slow Brains": Kinda sarcastic. More of that kind of Raconteurs sound, like "Steady As She Goes" but a little slower-paced (only a little). I'd describe the genre sound, but I have a feeling you have already guessed it and I hate to be repetitive.
"Under the Willow Tree": V. whimsical and with more of that jazz sound in the vocals. If it was sung against just a jazz piano, it could be sung in a jazz club or something to that effect. As it stands, with the muted piano and drums, it gives it another, somehow more friendly vibe.
" Oh Mama": Final track! Soulful and emotional, set against a piano and the barest hint of drums and an acoustic guitar that starts out way in the background but slowly takes over. She sounds so moving here, almost mournful, but it ends the CD well.
Go listen if you are into that whole indie-blues-folk sound, and even if you aren't, I'll bet you'll like "Little Toy Gun" and the accompanying video (which stars and was directed by Kiefer Sutherland. WTF? Don't worry, Kiefer, you'll always be Jack Bauer to me). If you hate that, well, you have no taste in music or perhaps you just don't want to try anything new, in which case you still suck.
Alright, I've spent too long breaking this down for y'all, and it is off to my normal life. My roommate has vacayed the room because I "type too loudly", apparently (wtf that means, I will probably never know), and my stomach is vying for my attention with loud grumbles like I just called its mother a whore or something. Enjoy your night/day/wherever it is where you are.
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you loud typer you ;) haha. Can't say I have ever heard that complaint before. This is a pretty awesome track by track critique!
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