As with so many other intimate listening experiences, Honey Joy’s second album, II, was born from personal battles as singer, Meg Tinsley embarked on a mission of self love after a bad bout of mental health. The result by her estimation, is “an exploration of the places your mind can go and a narrative of my experiences during those times.”
That exploration gets its pep from Honey Joy’s bouncy melodies and audible surf-rock influences. Their DIY aesthetic, something we personally love, leaves the edges of this album rough enough to make it even more immersive and relatable to the jagged contours of mental health.
‘Acute on Chronic’ is our standout because of the raspy demands from Tinsley in the last seconds of the song, the driving riffs and pummeling drums. There’s a contagious energy there that burrows and makes its way up and down your body.
That energy also presents itself on tracks like ‘Diversion Tactics’, ‘Pain’ and ‘Finally Home’ and while the pace shifts on ‘Part One – The Contagion’ and ‘Part Two – The Healer’, the latter two are actually incredibly clever. Presented to the listener as very similar sounding songs, it’s only in the lyrics that you can tell they’re actually mirror opposites.
Although completely fresh, we love that elements of II feel very nostalgic. It might only clock in under twenty minutes, but this is a potent dose of punk rock that left us hankering for a pit, cheap bear and a good ol’ live show.
