Review: One year later, the self-titled debut album, "Honeyknife," is a must listen 'beacon of bangers' that pulls on your nostalgic heartstrings.

It seems like yesterday that we were all witness to the timelessness of Atlanta rock band Honeyknife. At the same time, the music feels like it’s been here forever. Vocalist and songwriter Luke Latimer has graced us with his prolific performances of hits and originals for years. However, in late 2023, the pent-up energy that Luke had stored within a hard drive somewhere began making its way to grungy drums, fuzzy and beaten guitar, and straight gas pedal rhythms. The band has now gone to open for GROUPLOVE and are slated to open for Manchester Orchestra and Microwave in November off the success of this album and the band’s relentless schedules. It even led to the proverbial knighting from Braves pitcher Spencer Strider with his yearly Vinyl Selections with the Braves. A year ago today, their self-titled LP hit the scene like a folk song. Nothing too new, nothing too dated. Right in your sweet spot. 

The record begins with three absolute rippers in “Splitter”, “Stay Bored”, and “Even Out”. The action scene guitar and bass riffs from the second and third track immediately make my foot heavier in the poor little Mazda. Now that it’s been a year, I can almost get the engine to harmonize. The group was able to perfectly balance the familiarity of 90’s ass-beater bar chords and four on the floor rock with a sense of modernity around the mixes. The grunge is definitely not refused with these tracks, even pursuing the flying and crescendo-laden choruses that accompany those nostalgic templates. Latimer’s originality and songwriter chops really begin to shine in the latter parts of the record. 

A true lyrical standout in the record is “Gather round and watch the flowers burn; See the patterns from the ashes that disappear”, from the song “See The Patterns”. The second half of the album takes an emo turn. This lends to the softer side of Honeyknife; a term almost fitting for Latimer’s vocals on this album. It can cut like a rusty nail, but it’s smoother than molasses just when it needs to be. The twang in the guitars and vocals provide the touch of Southern charm without overloading you with lyrics and themes you hear on country radio, which is quite refreshing still. The mix/master from Big Trouble Recording and work of Daniel Gleason and TJ Elias bolster the strong songs into an in-your-face mix that take good care of the polar dynamics of the band.

Honeyknife is here to stay, but they never arrived. That drive of nostalgia and real-time angst is what makes this record the beacon of bangers that it is. If it hasn’t hit your ears yet, take it from me. 

Stop everything you’re doing right now and put it on. I’ll wait.