While various musical fads and trends come and go (and with increasing rapidity), there’s a reason why bluesy hard rock has been ever-present and impervious, and the answer is fairly simple; quite simply it’s the mutt’s nuts. It’s a genre that keeps producing fresh blood to carry the torch, and amongst the new breed California’s Dirty Honey are burning brightly. In a short career that’s already included many highs, they’ve managed to raise the bar even further with their sophomore album Can’t Find The Brakes.
Since they released their last long player (2021’s eponymously-titled debut) there’s been change in the Dirty Honey camp with new drummer Jaydon Bean handling the beats, but fans needn’t worry; it’s the same band delivering the same kind of sun-kissed rock, only with the confidence sold-out tours and top support slots brings. The band’s belief becomes immediately obvious on opening track ‘Don’t Put Out The Fire’, whereas most groups, eager to make an impact, would fire off an upbeat rocker, Dirty Honey take a more measured route and hit us with the slow burning ‘Don’t Put Out The Fire’. It’s the kind of decision that their peers would overlook, but it’s one that really works and makes a memorable introduction to Can’t Find The Brakes.
It would be easy for the musical uncouth to write Dirty Honey off as some kind of retro act, but those with cloth-ears have never heard ‘Won’t Take Me Alive’. Sure, it has has its roots in rock’s most classiest era, yet its sheer energy places it firmly in the present. As life-affirming, authority-denying hard rock goes, things don’t really get much better than this. It sounds as if someone has lit a fire up their collective bum and it has caused Dirty Honey to set the sparks flying in every direction. Long-term producer Nick DiDia has given the band a warm, treacly sound which ensures the whole album flows smoothly (like hot engine oil) as Dirty Honey veer between all out rockers and moody, melodramatic numbers.
At every large music festival the burning question year after year is who will be future headliners when the old guard start to shuffle off into the great gig in the sky, well the answer is finally here in the shape of this eight-legged beast. And the greatest thing about Dirty Honey is that they’ve paid their dues the old school way; they’re not some marketing man’s wet dream, rather they have put the mileage in, and now they are ready to reap the rewards. Truth be told, songs such as ‘Get A Little High’ and the majestic title-track seem tailored made for the biggest arenas, and here’s the rub; the more you increase the volume…the better they sound!
As the band take another step on the road to global domination, there’s never been a better time to get a taste of Dirty Honey!
- Can’t Find The Brakes is released via Dirt Records on 3rd November 2023.
- Official Website
Track List:
- Don’t Put Out The Fire
- Won’t Take Me Alive
- Dirty Mind
- Roam
- Get A Little High
- Coming Home (Ballad of the Shire)
- Can’t Find The Brakes
- Satisfied
- Ride On
- You Make It All Right
