REVIEW: Honeydogs, Seen A Ghost (Debris/Mercury)
- Bill Holmes
On their third release, Minneapolis' Honeydogs seem to be fighting the "alt-country" tag that's being stapled to them. Good thing - although there's some countrified sweetness on Seen A Ghost, there's much, much more to this record than that.
Adam Levy writes catchy, melodic songs and stuffs them full of lyrical gems that put a smile on your face without taking the song off the track. Inverted cliches like "you took my breath away/now I want it back" sit alongside inspired lines like "don't tell me that it's raining/when you're peeing on my head". Levy claims he gets his lyrical ideas from listening to his band mates busting each other on the tour bus; if so, nobody sleeps much.
Musically, the H-dogs are all over the map but do it with style. Two of the songs, "Cherub" and "Twitch", rock out like vintage Faces right down to the trademark Ronnie Wood guitar sounds. "Cut Me Loose, Napoleon" takes it a step further, echoing the Faces' bastard children, The Replacements (fellow Twin City homeboys who are a huge influence here). At the core of both those bands were artists whose solo work falls more into the "alt-c" bucket, Ronnie Lane and Paul Westerberg. "John Brown", with its thick and saucy keyboards, could sit alongside any Lane composition from the Long Player era (like "Debris", which ironically is the name Mercury chose for this side label). The acoustic closer "Sweet Pea" uses strings to wash the emotions over the listener, capping the gentle exit with a refrain of the title tune in the fade. Beautiful touch.
Right alongside these songs are a few shots of roadhouse country. "Mainline" is straight Bakersfield shuffle, no chaser, and "Those Things Are Hers" is classic two-step twang. And if that isn't enough, "Into Thin Air" is borderline psychedelic, great biting slide driving the chorus throughout.
What could be formulaic in other singer's hands is dynamic here because Levy is as good a singer as he is a songwriter. His phrasing, especially on the should-be-a-hit "I Miss You", accentuates his lyrics, toying with rhymes and puns. And isn't it great to hear a "band-on-the-road" song that's a real love song instead of all this "loner/cowboy" bullshit that everyone seems to write? That song, along with "Your Blue Door" and "Rumor Has It" might kick down the door that Wilco has been trying hard to open for the last two years.
Usually when a band's sound is this diverse it's a bad sign, a warning signal that they lack direction. But if the band in question does it all so well and with such passion, how can I knock them? The Replacements were equally strong with "Alex Chilton" and "Skyway", ditto The Faces with "Stay With Me" and "Debris". While it's too soon to place The Honeydogs in such esteemed company, they're sure headed in the right direction. In the meantime, I can't keep this one out of the player, and I'll bet you can't either.
