Up-and-coming rock outfit Dirty Honey announced late last month, it will open 2024 with a new series of live performances across Europe. The tour, scheduled to kick off Feb. 7 in Glasgow, UK, is in support of the band’s recently released sophomore album, Can’t Find The Brakes. Released early last month, the 11-song album is a welcome follow-up to the band’s self-titled album, which was released in 2021. Its success comes in part through its featured musical arrangements, which will be examined shortly. The lyrical content that accompanies that musical content makes for its own share of interest and will be discussed a little later. The sequencing of that overall content rounds out the most important of the album’s elements worth noting. It will also be discussed later. When it is considered along with the overall content, the whole makes Can’t Find The Brakes a record that shows promise for the band’s future and for that of pure guitar rock.
Can’t Find The Brakes, the recently released sophomore album from Dirty Honey, is a positive new offering from the up-and-coming rock outfit. It is a presentation that offers hope for the band’s future and for that of the guitar rock community in general. That is proven in part through the musical arrangements featured throughout the album. From beginning to end, this record’s arrangements are pure guitar rock at its finest. Right from the record’s outset, audiences get a song in ‘Don’t Put Out The Fire’ that exhibits obvious influence from AC/DC yet still manages easily to establish its own identity. The AC/DC influence comes in the distinct, staccato, bluesy guitar lick that serves as its foundation. As the album progresses into its second track, ‘Won’t Take Me Alive,’ the band keeps the blues rock influence flowing while also using the guitar and front man Marc LaBelle’s vocal style to conjure thoughts of Guns N’ Roses. Again even with the influence and comparison there, the song still manages easily to establish its own identity that is fully engaging and entertaining. On the same note, listeners can just as easily compare this song’s arrangement to works from the likes of Buckcherry, which is just as much of a compliment to the band. The album’s third song, ‘Dirty Mind’ goes even bluesier, going into more of a southern rock vein a la Black Crowes. This is certain to entertain and engage listeners, too.
From this point on, the enjoyment remains stable right to the record’s end. ‘Roam’ offers some Led Zeppelin-esque sound and style while ‘Get A Little High’ offers its own enjoyable southern rock approach. The ballad approach of the aptly titled ‘Coming Home (Ballad of The Shire)’ throws back to so much folk rock from days gone by yet still makes it as fresh as ever. From there, the band’s increasingly familiar neo-classic rock style works flesh out the record’s second half, presenting just as much originality and nostalgia from one song to the next. Listeners can even make a comparison at one point to the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd and at another, to works from various country rock acts. The overall result of this blend of vintage and updated guitar rock makes the overall musical content here reason enough to take in the album.
The musical arrangements featured throughout Can’t Find The Brakes is reason enough for audiences to take in Dirty Honey’s new record. That is because as with the band’s 2021 self-titled debut, it is all so accessible and original. Building on the foundation formed by the album’s musical arrangements I that content’s companion lyrical content. The lyrical themes featured throughout this album are just as accessible. Many of the songs featured in this record center on the topic of relationships, both the good and bad. ‘Don’t Put Out The Fire’ for instance, features its subject addressing his or her love interest, saying he or she was shocked by the pair’s relationship ending. There is pain but also some anger as he/she says to the other, “When you catch me with a brand new flame/Don’t be surprised, baby.” While the song is sung by a male, it could just as easily come from the vantage point of a man as a woman. That is because of how it is delivered. This in itself is certain to help it resonate with listeners.
Nearly every other song featured in this album centers on the all-too-familiar topic of relationships in its own way, too. ‘Coming Home (Ballad of the Shire)’ finds the subject longing to be back home with his love interest after being away for such a long time while the album’s penultimate entry, ‘You Make It Alright’ is self-explanatory as per its title. It is a song that finds its subject praising that love interest because that woman makes the man’s life better. As LaBelle sings, “As long as you’re by my side/I know that I’ll be alright/’Cause I call you mine.” This is sure to resonate with plenty of women and be used by plenty of male audiences looking to woo their women. The one most notable moment when the band strays from that familiar topic of a relationship comes early in the album’s run in the form of ‘Won’t Take Me Alive.’ In the case of this song, the theme is that of someone wanting to make life miserable for someone else. The song’s subject tells that person the noted antagonist will not succeed in doing so.
The band strays from the relationship matter again later in the record’s run in ‘Ride On.’ IN the case of this song, it comes across as delivering a message of simply living life, looking to the future rather than living in the present and the past. This is inferred as LaBelle sings, “Life moves way too fast/We might as well hit the gas” after noting prior to that, “Motor roaring like a lion/I’ve been running too lean/And all the secrets I’ve been hiding/I’m trying to keep myself clean.” Again, this seems to point to someone saying that he is trying to let go of those things from the past and be better in the present and future. If in fact this is the case then it is another overall topic that is sure to engage and entertain audiences just as much as all of the matters of relationships that flesh out so much of the album. Keeping all of this in mind, the overall lyrical content featured throughout Can’t Find The Brakes is just as sure to engage and entertain audiences as the record’s musical arrangements, what with their neo-classic sound and style.
As much as the collective musical and lyrical content does throughout Can’t Find The Brakes to make the album worth hearing, the sequencing of that content does just as much to make the record worth hearing. As noted, the album’s musical arrangements are clearly more pure guitar rock very much in the vein of the band’s fellow guitar rock acts. Fron one arrangement to the next, the sound and style of each does well to blend modern guitar rock and neo-classic rock to make each song unique in its own right. As the album progresses, the band breaks up the energy in just the right points with the ballad-esque ‘Roam’ and the full ballad, ‘Coming Home (The Ballad of the Shire).’ In-between it all, listeners get plenty of energy from the rest of the record. The overall display shows that plenty of time and thought was put into the arrangements and their placement for the best impact. At the same time, the differing ways in which the overarching theme of relationships is presented throughout the album keeps things just interesting enough, too. The addition of the two non-relationship-based songs mixes things up just enough, too. Again, this is its own show of thought put into the sequencing. The result of that time and thought is a record whose sequencing generates just as much aesthetic appeal as does the overall content that makes up the album’s body. When the sequencing and content is considered in whole, it makes Can’t Find The Brakes a positive new offering from Dirty Honey that gives hope for the band’s future and for that of the guitar rock community.
Can’t Find The Brakes, the latest album from Dirty Honey, is a promising new offering from the band that is sure to engage and entertain audiences. The record’s success comes in part through its featured arrangements. The arrangements are of note because of their balance of classic rock influence and modern guitar rock edge. The way in which the vintage and modern rock leanings work together makes each work fully engaging and entertaining because of their originality. The lyrical themes that accompany the album’s musical arrangements are of note, too, because of their own accessibility. For the most part the record’s themes center on relationships in different ways. The sequencing of all of that content brings everything together because it manages to keep things changing just enough from one song to the next. It puts the finishing touch to the record and in turn makes the record that much more positive and one more welcome addition to this year’s field of new rock albums.
Can’t Find The Brakes is available now through Dirt Records. More information on the album is available along with all of Dirty Honey’s latest news at:
Website: https://www.dirtyhoney.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DirtyHoneyMusic
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dirtyhoneyband