Honey Power: Macrosilly

Honey Power come from that hotbed of rock and roll… Estonia. Estonia should be proud of this group, which has just as much in common with New Order as they do the Smashing Pumpkins. The mid-tempo, indie-rock feel oozing out of “Bonnie Meets Clyde” is quite good for an opening track, and lead singer Martin Kikas seems to be having lots of fun with it also. Short, punchy, and raw rock tracks are the order of the day with a very, very good “Traveling Nonstop” that resembles an outtake from the Replacements’ Tim masterpiece. Fans of bands like the Cure and particularly the Shout Out Louds would enjoy and revel in “Fake Blue Sky”, which hits the ground running on all cylinders. Nothing here is truly horrible, although one of the average or mediocre songs is the slower, moodier “Plug Me In”, which comes off as having been shortcircuited. But even this song slowly grows on the listener. Perhaps what sells the album is that so many of the songs are not polished much, if at all, including a finely crafted “Relax Relax (Your Stereo Is Fine)” and the just as stellar “Bearhill”. Honey Power rarely falters with surefire gems such as “Lights from Pillow” and the ear candy coming from “Casino Stoner”.