Monday, September 22, 2008

Loose Boots, Tight EP


God bless the indie scene. If it weren’t for the emergence of the internet and subsequently access to independent artists and labels, I may never have come across honeyhoney and their EP “Loose Boots.” Though only 5 tracks long, the disc whets ones appetite for more from the songwriting duo of Suzanne Santo and Ben Jaffe.

Santo’s vocals, at once silken mixed with grit, deliver lyrics of immediacy and absolute directness. This girl’s got no time mess around, she’s straight up blunt and telling it like it is. “Little Toy Gun” (assumedly the single) leads off the disc and gets things moving. Lyrically aggressive, Santo seems to ponder a better means of break-up rather than the normal phone call, “I know you sat all alone so many nights waiting for me/Cold, your face like a stone I hang up the phone when we disagree/Standing there by my side when the fighting is done/Glaring at me in the light is my little toy gun.” The song feels somewhere between a Hawaiian surfing film and a car chase.

This is followed by the wild romp of “Give Yourself to Me.” After which, the duo slows it down for “Bouncing Ball” a track that allows Santo to stretch out and show some range.

But the highlight comes in the form of “Thursday Night” a relaxing charmer of a song. Fed up with the games lovers play, a frustrated Santo lays it on the line. “I’m sitting here with you tonight, you make an awful pretty sight and since it’s just us two tonight, I think that we should screw tonight.” It doesn’t get much more direct than that, but Santo’s delivery is so soft and smooth that unless you’re listening for it, you just might miss it.

Though only 5 tracks long, the EP is certainly worth a listen. The band has been signed to Kiefer Sutherland’s IronWorks label and a full-length album is on the way shortly. I. For one, will be looking forward to it.

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