Review: Black Honey Cult ‘Black Honey Cult’
Black Honey Cult are not necessarily a ‘new’ band. In fact, they’ve been percolating in some form or another for a decade and a half. Featuring Jake Cavaliere on vocals and organ, and Johnny DeVilla on guitars and noise, both being founding members of Los Angeles’ long-running, garage, punk rock and roll heathens, The Lords Of Altamont.
I’ve been a fan of The Lords for a long time, having climbed aboard their swaggering, rock and roll train as far back as 2005’s Lords Have Mercy. So, upon seeing who was involved in Black Honey Cult, I was excited to hear what Cavaliere and DeVilla’s new project sounded like and dove right in.
The band took some time coming together before coalescing into a solid lineup, with Spencer Robinson on bass and vocals, Garey Snider on drums and Travis Petersen on guitar as Black Honey Cult finally came into existence, with all the musicians being long-serving members of LA’s vigorous garage punk underground.
The self-titled album opens with Operation, an organ-driven, bouncy, late ‘60s style instrumental that segues into the awesome Golden Dragon, wherein it’s immediately evident that this band is a different beast altogether than The Lords Of Altamont as they proffer a more subdued, blown-out, psychedelic take on garage rock, as opposed to the more frenzied, off-the-rails approach to rock and roll.
Golden Dragon is a driving, swirling, effects-drenched up-tempo rocker that recalls the UK psych rock of bands like The Jesus And Mary Chain and Loop as DeVilla’s echo-y, spaced-out guitar histrionics and Cavaliere’s distorted vocals are propelled by a simple yet driving beat and plenty of organ flourishes.
blown-out, psychedelic take on garage rock…
Dead In Me is a wicked, overdriven, catchy-as-fuck, garage rock stomper, which boasts plenty of organ action, a super slippery riff and a gnarly, distorted shred. Black Eyed Soul begins life with an almost surf-y guitar line before exploding into what late ‘60s bands like The Seeds or The Sonics might sound like if they were amped up on lo-fi distortion, backed by healthy doses of organ blasts, and Los Angeles rock and roll grime.
Side Stepping City Streets is a slightly mellower affair with Cavaliere delivering a catchy, yet toned down performance, anchored by a solid drum shuffle with amazing tone as well as killer, addictive guitar playing. LSD And Me is an instrumental that sounds exactly like it’s title, with psychedelic, distorted, fuzzy guitar interplay backed by a simple beat and all sorts of swirling effects.
Hitting the closing stretch, the penultimate Take Me Down is a psych and affects drenched love letter to The Stooges, even boasting the same garage punk swagger and attitude, but completely dripping with reverb, fuzz and plenty of echo box action. It’s a complete head-nodder and one of the cooler garage-psych tracks I’ve encountered in a while. Closer, Roller Coaster is a trippy, driving affair that delivers a bit more aggression, wrapping this debut album up in tidy fashion, all the while displaying the elements that made this such an awesome, fun record.
Black Honey Cult is infinitely playable with the effects and layers delivering new sounds with each listen, even as the darker, psychedelic bent falls sonically closer to bands like The Black Angels and Comets On Fire, as opposed to the punked-up energetic take on The Rolling Stones that The Lords Of Altamont are known for. This is a super-cool album that any garage rock and heavy psych fan will thoroughly enjoy. Recommended.
Label: Heavy Psych Sounds
Band Links: Facebook | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Martin Williams
