Review – The Honeydogs – 10,000 Years – By Todd Stump
In this era of popular music, the concept album does not often elicit a positive response from listeners. For the Gen-X set, this is likely due to hazy memories of Friday nights spent in suburban wood-paneled basements as the heavy-handed progressive rock of Rush, Genesis and Spinal Tap provided the sound track of their disobedience. For the burgeoning Hipster Nation, “story albums” possibly remind them of the pretensions of the aforementioned Gen-Xers. The Honeydogs may have fired the first salvo at these mind-sets with their clever song cycle “10,000 Years,” a tale of a test-tube baby, his rearing in an impoverished world, his forays into crime and his redemption.
The lyrics on “10,000 Years” read like Elmore Leonard on a bender fueled by post-apocalyptic martinis, containing a mess of sordid one-liners and references to drug deals, 10-megaton blasts and shrapnel-encrusted innocent bystanders. The band’s utilization of overdubs and 64-track instrumental wizardry would make Brian May and Queen applaud.
The album opens with the bouncy piano of “Dead Stars.” Running under two minutes, it leaves us far too soon, as the refrain “It’s so lonely here” serves as a curious ending for an opening track. “Test Tube Kid” continues the story of our protagonist, while “Poor Little Sugar” pours on the percussion in an arrangement echoing the best days of Steely Dan. “Panhandler’s Serenade” is a mid-tempo booty-shaker that builds until the final verse, which adds coy piano drops and smoo-ooth backing vocals. In “The Rake’s Progress,” Levy offers witticisms such as “I look like an angel, but I’m dreamin’ of war.” The onslaught of pop genius continues with “Damascus,” an ominous theme in search of an unsuspecting prom committee.
The title track etches a morality play for the makers of war, asking if the progress of the past 10 millennia has taught us anything. The standout track, “Were the Heavens Standing Blindly?”, contains chord progressions straight from imperial Russia. Dig the sound effect ending the tune, like a prog rock band equipped with nothing more than a draining bathtub, a microphone and a delay pedal. The album closes with “23rd Chromosome,” a veritable swinger.
The Honeydogs have released their best work with “10,000 Years.” Here’s hoping that a radio station will take a gamble and give a few of these tunes a spin.
Filed under: Issue #1
