An album released from Honeypot has a way of giving off a slew of rock influences on one fat record and it gives off a range that encompasses everything from classic rock of different decades, indie rock, anthemic arena rock, and even progressive rock all just rolled into this huge release and throughout it all you begin to pick up on this character that it delivers and this ends up being a big part of what you get attached to right from the get-go.
The On the B side ReBorn album is packed with addictive guitar tones and refs that end up sticking with you and bouncing around in your head just as much as some of the choruses do and the only way to satiate this is to go and listen to the songs again which to me is smart songwriting but I feel like Frank Hartman, the man behind this project, just has a natural knack for songwriting this way.
This is one of those albums that you should absolutely listen to in full because if you don't, you'll be missing out on a lot of different kinds of music. This is a rock record but it's not that straightforward or black and white. It does indeed encompass a bunch of different styles in there and no two songs.
Listening to one or two tracks will not give you the full spectrum or range that the album actually offers.
Throughout this record, you hear influences like Def Leppard, rush, and even a little Paul Simon in there if you ask me.
Going through the record, you can hear these different influences popping in here and there and to me, a lot of this record is almost like a love letter or an old to those bands and artists that really influenced him growing up.
I think this is part of why the record came out so good. Because it's genuine and it has this authentic approach that wants to do those bands and those artists justice and it certainly does.
You have songs that while others hint at a sort of Americana undertone with a stomping rhythm and clean guitars.
No matter what you get you know it's going to be a good time, and you know it's something that came from someplace real and was inspired by some of the greats.
I think a record like this takes a lot and for Frank Hartman, you can tell this is an absolute 100% passion project.
The guitar work is pretty much perfect but it's really the way the songs are written that makes everything flow so well.
The performances across the board are very well-done including vocals, but it's the songwriting that hits you.
Some of these do actually come across like songs that you could have been listening to on the radio for years or even decades now, but you just missed it somehow.
Listening to some of these tracks even gave me these little bouts of nostalgia and triggered certain memories of driving in an old Taurus through town as a teenager.
This is not the kind of thing that happens often so for that to happen, the song has to be aesthetically nailed, and they really are here.
I think there was a lot of thought and attention to detail during the creation of these songs but there's also a sense of heart in there and I think that's what comes through the strongest out of everything.
Like maybe these songs were even nostalgic for Frank himself who wrote them.
Now, I'm not totally sure which instruments frank is playing or if he works with other people on certain tracks here and there, but you can tell he wrote everything, and this record shows so much personality and insight into who he is that it makes it completely fun.
This was a vivacious rock record that had an eclectic set of songwriting approaches that all came from different influences that let Frank (Honeypot) really thrive as an artist now.
Dive into this record as soon as you can and don't be afraid to turn it up.
Remember where you heard it first.
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