Honeybadger – Pleasure Delayer: Time for Old School Stoner!
We listened to the Honeybadger record titled Pleasure Delayer.
By Dimitris (Bari) Polyzois
A record that took us back to the good old classic days of Old School Stoner…
And there I was, sitting quietly and pleasantly doing some research on the Hard Rock scene in Greece (you can find it here), when a few bands came up that caught my interest big time. Among them: Honeybadger Honeybadger!
EUREKA!
Oh, yes! Here we are…
Old School principles and powerful riffs
It's begun! Pleasure Delayer Pleasure Delayer is the band's first full-length record, through which they're trying to introduce themselves to us. And if this is them introducing themselves, well then…
8 tracks (only, unfortunately!). Tracks that will get you moving to the rhythm. Tracks that will make you grab your guitar, your bass, or just sit down at your Drum Set and start practicing (at least that's what I did!). All of this, if you're a musician.
"And what about the rest of us non-musicians, Jimmy?!", you'll rightly ask. You've got the best seat of all: right in the middle of the room, drink in hand, listening closely.
The band's sound
The style is evident throughout the whole record. Honeybadger's sound is the very definition of the Desert Stoner Rock scene. Riffs that are melodic and guitars with lead parts that accompany the vocals. And speaking of vocals, that role belongs to one of the namesakes! Δημήτρης Βαρδουλάκης Δημήτρης Βαρδουλάκης (also on guitar). I can say he gives the songs their style and character. The vocal melody lines are, after all, beautifully tied to the rhythmic parts of each track.
The band's full of Dimitrises! Completing the guitar duo is Δημήτρης Γιαννακόπουλος Δημήτρης Γιαννακόπουλος. Here, the 'dressing' he does with background melodies is inventive. It's done in such a way that there's no risk whatsoever of the instruments' frequencies clashing.
Completing the trio of Dimitrises is Δημήτρης Γιαννόπουλος Δημήτρης Γιαννόπουλος on bass. Together with Vaggelis Oikonomou (on drums), they offer stability, but also some lovely dynamics within the tracks. The shifts, defined chiefly by the Rhythm Section, catch the listener off guard.
Influences that come through loud and clear
Monster Magnet, Queens of the Stone Age, Clutch and Truckfighters among the bands cited as influences of Honeybadger. And this shows in the way the tracks are structured from every angle. The important thing is that, personally, I found myself travelling towards other possible influences too. The one certainty is that the band's delivery is one of a kind, which has me eagerly awaiting their next Live performance.
The pleasure that… wasn't delayed one bit!
The pleasure of listening to this record is huge! Through these tracks the band promises they're here to stay!
The Pleasure Delayer (whose production and distribution was handled by Made of Stone Recordings) is a record that showed me the band has plenty of prospects. Also, that the Greek Hard Rock / Stoner Rock scene doesn't stop at the 4-5 most famous bands. There are countless possibilities, which I'm hopeful have what it takes to become landmarks of the genre.
At the end of the day, I tried to stay as neutral as I could and express my opinion on each track objectively. I feel like I didn't manage it. Some of them became favourite listens and made it into my personal lists (I won't tip you off by saying which ones!).
The only thing you need to ask yourself is this:
Will you also become a Wolf?! Join the pack!
