Review | Black Honey - A Fistful of Peaches

George Ward

Freelance journalist based in Bristol. Can be found at the Grain Barge, Rough Trade or in his tiny basement bedroom writing for CLUNK.

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With ‘A Fistful of Peaches’, Black Honey have found who they really are: a confident, catchy and talented indie rock group. The tracklist goes from indie banger to indie banger and, while there could be more variety, the album certainly fulfils what it sets out to do.

I was surprised by how heavy ‘A Fistful of Peaches’ would hit when opener ‘Charlie Bronson’ began. The track opens with a heavily distorted guitar riff, immediately catching your attention and making you want more. The track fluctuates from this heavy noise and laid-back ethereal moments, keeping you on your toes.

These noisiest moments are when Black Honey really shine. On the appropriately named ‘Heavy’, the band perfectly balance the poppiness of an indie tune with the noise of rock. The track could easily work without the heavy guitar riffs, replacing them instead with a synth, but it would be nowhere near as interesting. The result is a pop song with similar aesthetics to a DIY or shoegaze track.

The band nail these poppier moments too. ‘Out Of My Mind’ is as infectious as a Japanese Breakfast song with pop-punk vocals and a catchy chorus. It would be nice to hear Black Honey change up the pace a little throughout the project and, because of this, the first half of the album does hit harder than the second.

Tracks like ‘I’m A Man’ and ‘Weirdos’ lack some of the character of early tracks, but album closer ‘Bummer’ is huge. The guitars sound absolutely massive and the verse’s chords are gorgeous. It is a song that is begging to be heard live.

If you are going to listen to one track from ‘A Fistful of Peaches’, listen to ‘Up Against It’. The track combines all of what make Black Honey special. We have the uplifting lyrics, reassuring vocal performance, heavy guitars and catchy pop songwriting. It really is the album highlight and should give you a taste of whether ‘A Fistful of Peaches’ is for you. Though, if you like indie rock or pop, there really isn’t any reason that it shouldn’t be.

‘A Fistful of Peaches’ is out now via Foxfive Records.

Listen to it here: