Monday, November 07, 2016

Album Review :: Honeyblood - Babes Never Die




Honeyblood

Babes Never Die

November 4 2016 (FatCat)

7.5/10

Words: Alison Mack

With the departure of drummer Shona McVicar after their debut in 2014, new drummer Cat Myers joins singer/guitarist Stina Tweeddale in the second incarnation of Honeyblood and this second full-length.

Producer James Dring (Jamie T, Gorillaz) refines the distorted fuzzy hooks of their early DIY material and tightens the catchy choruses and call-and-response guitar lines. In between the opening and closing instrumentals, 'Intro' and 'Outro', there are ten tracks of varying degrees of heavy percussion (the album's title track), lead single 'Ready For The Magic', all pop-punk infectiousness with handclaps and sing-along swagger, and the grunge-styled 'Sea Hearts'.

Elsewhere, the fuzzy guitar ballad ‘Cruel’ with Myers and Tweeddale’s harmonies slows the pace, and there’s a wistful, emotional side to ‘Gangs’, Tweddale's recollection of early life growing up in a rough suburb of Edinburgh

Honeyblood’s second album is a high quality vehicle of  contagious spirit and 'babes forever' girl power.

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