Honey Magic

Gig Reviews

Academy Unsigned 231b
Club Academy
11/12/07

A guitarist dressed like Slash, playing like John Fruscante, opens with a lead so drenched in wah that it could have formed a new sea. And then didn’t let up. This was a lesson in funk rock. From ‘Summerfield Avenue’ through to ‘Wallcover’, every riff, every lead, every vocal was perfectly executed, with an extraordinary level of flair and confidence. Ralls, drum changes and numerous guitar effects all reared their heads; this was a display that even the next act declared was hard to follow. In fact, it was impossible to follow; an immaculate performance, and certainly a band to watch.

10/10

Set list:

1. ‘Summerfield Avenue’
2. ‘Breathe’
3. ‘Play that Funky Music’
4. ‘Pain’
5. ‘Cheeky Smile’
6. ‘Gotta Get Away’
7. ‘Wallcover’

CD Reviews

‘HONEYMAGIC’

We saw these guys at Academy Unsigned 231, and were honestly blown away- so expectations of this CD were high! And in the first track they are fulfilled; with it’s impressive tight drum rolls and clean funky guitar sound that merges into more distorted, heavy chorus chords (whilst maintaining an assured sense of melody), ‘Summerfield Avenue’ is a cracker live and it’s a cracker on record.
There are some earnest, driving riffs and the standard of musicianship is basically high throughout the record. But unfortunately in the following four tracks (not played at AU231, save ‘Gotta Get Away’) quite a bit of the energy and impact of the live show is lost. And despite tempo changes, softer sections etc which do add some character, the music does tend to wander.
Saying that, if this is your kind of music, be sure to catch them live as that is currently the best way to appreciate them. But as far as success on recordings is concerned, they need to have a bulk of consistently stronger songs in order to stand out.