Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 03/25/2008
Run Time: 42:22
Again working with
Alan Moulder but now also using a live drummer on most tracks -- namely
Monti from
Curve, one of
the Mary Chain's many descendants -- the Reids came back strong with
Honey's Dead, on balance a more consistent and satisfying record than
Automatic. There's a sense of greater creativity with the arrangements, while the balance between blasting static rampage and precise, almost clinical delivery is the finest yet, making the album as a whole the best straight-through listen since
Psychocandy.
Monti's drumming finally replaces
Bobby Gillespie's properly; he's a much more talented musician than the
Primal Scream overlord, using the warped
funk hits familiar from
Curve's work to
the Mary Chain's advantage. Even the drum machine-driven cuts work better than before, especially the brilliant, coruscating opener,
"Reverence." Burning with some of the best nails-on-chalkboard feedback the band had yet recorded, combined with a whipsmart sharp breakbeat, all it took was the finishing touch of
Jim Reid's sneering lines like "I wanna die like Jesus Christ" to make it another stone-cold classic single from the band. Other winners include
"Sugar Ray," with beats and melody so immediate and addictive the track was actually used for a beer commercial, of all things, and the steady slap and crunch of
"Good for My Soul." If there's a danger in
Honey's Dead, it's that the near bottomless pit of reworked melodies and lyrics had almost reached its end -- even the final track,
"Frequency," combines both
"Reverence" itself with
the Modern Lovers'
"Roadrunner" -- which made the stylistic shift on
Stoned & Dethroned a logical follow-up.
William and
Jim Reid split all the vocals almost evenly, the former especially shining on the nearly gentle
"Almost Gold," the closest the record comes to a sweet
ballad.
~Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
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