Simon RushworthDirty Honey — Can’t Find The Breaks (Dirt Records)
They don’t make bands like Dirty Honey any more.
At least they didn’t.
Not until Marc LaBelle and co. decided to drain the well of sleaze-tinged, blues-infused, 80s-styled stadium rock on the band’s dazzling, self-titled 2019 EP.
That raw and riotous manifesto for hook-laden, chorus-driven, radio-ready devilment caught the attention of would-be fans and the blindsided media alike.
The band’s debut album — also called Dirty Honey (LaBelle just loves his band name) — delivered more of the same.
And that was only the start.
Sold-out shows on both sides of the Atlantic, an invite to share a stage with Dirty Honey blueprint Guns N’ Roses and critical acclaim for that super-feisty first album only served to ramp up expectation ahead of Can’t Find The Breaks’ autumn 2023 release.
And another riotous record doesn’t disappoint.
LaBelle’s ability to switch from lung-busting frontman (Won’t Take Me Alive) to endearing balladeer (Coming Home) is so very Axl.
But tonally he’s more of a Plant than a Rose and perhaps Dirty Honey are more rooted in a garden of groove-laden 70s blues rock than backyard, balls-to-the-wall hair metal.
Either way, there’s something addictively enticing about a band that mixes Zeppelin with Aerosmith and Love/Hate with Tesla to create a recipe for throwback excess.
If you’re searching for the best rock and roll band since Rival Sons then Dirty Honey are the bees knees.
And on Can’t Find The Breaks, the Los Angeles quartet is in no mood to slow down any time soon.
Bean Around The Block
The recruitment of Jaydon Bean already looks like a smart move.
LaBelle has spoken of the drummer’s vocal harmonies adding a new dimension to Dirty Honey’s evolving sound.
And Can’t Find The Breaks truly benefits from the multi-talented Bean — behind the kit and beyond.
Throughout, Dirty Honey’s new record successfully treads that fine line between reassuring familiarity and necessary reinvention.
John Notto’s signature fretwork connects two albums set two years apart and the self-confessed Slash acolyte is a generational talent.
Capable of fusing Sunset Strip-styled flamboyance with Steve Perry-esque cool, LaBelle’s swaggering wingman struts his stuff like a latter-day Sambora.
And now Bean’s pacing the whole thing in tandem with bassman Justin Smolian, there’s a sense that Dirty Honey are growing up fast.
Opener Don’t Put Out The Fire sounds like Paul Rodgers fronting Status Quo and the aforementioned Coming Home (Ballad Of The Shire) gives Tesla’s Love Song a run for its money.
Dirty Mind’s straight out of the Jizzy Pearl playbook and the near seven-minute set closer Rebel Son’s a Plant-meets-Jay Buchanan classic rock masterclass.
Can’t Find The Breaks can only accelerate Dirty Honey’s fast-rising reputation.
This is the new wave of classic rock: turbocharged.
