Dirty Honey is from Los Angeles and founded in 2017. The band consists of Mark Labelle (vocals), John Noto (guitar), Justin Smolyan (bass) and Corey Coverston (drums). The first EP was released in 2019, and it was recently followed by the first full album. The band was supposed to go to Australia in March 2020 to tour and record their debut album there. Like many others, Covid-19 has cut that bill. Then the band went to Henson Studios in Hollywood, California. The production was in the hands of Nick Dedia, who collaborated with Bruce Springsteen, Amy Mann, Pearl Jam, and others.
The album contains eight self-written songs. Although self-written and original, their influences clearly lie in bands such as Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, and Gans in Roses. But rejecting Dirty Honey as a copy of this isn’t fair either. The band is very good for that and their music is so great. Singer Labelle reminds us of a confusion between Robert Blunt and Chris Robinson. Its voice moves mainly in the upper regions.
However, its versatility can be heard in songs like The Morning, in which he makes a raw and dark sound, and in the song Tied Up you can hear him sing a cappella along with background vocals. Guitarist Notto adorns the whole with solos and guitar solos with flair and other times. The songs that deserve a special mention in my opinion are the aforementioned “The Morning” and the blues and rock song “The Last Time”. Great album, highly recommended. (7/10) (self-production)
