Honeyblood
Baby’s All Right, New York City, NY • 10/26/16
by May Terry
The Glasgow low-fi indie-rock duo released their second album, Babes Never Die, to great reviews. Baby’s All Right is a small music venue just over the Williamsburg Bridge in Brooklyn, a couple of doors down from the Peter Luger’s steakhouse. Needless to say, Baby’s also serves food, but nowhere in comparison to its iconic culinary neighbor, serving soggy fries that you can wring drips of grease out of with a good squeeze.
The crowds were slow to show up, resulting in a delayed start. Honeyblood started at least 30 minutes later than scheduled. But it was worth the wait. Guitarist and lead singer, Stina Tweeddale, and drummer, Cat Myers, energized the room on first fuzz chord with “Ready for the Magic.” And on went the 14-song set of straight-up driving beats, tinny-sounding harmonies from this enigmatic duo. Myers delivers her own wall of sound that perfectly complements Tweedale’s distorted guitar rhythms and voice, which in some ways perfectly blends with the classic sound of the Fender Telecaster that she plays. In between songs, both Tweeddale and Myers comfortably play off the crowd with bar-stories and funny quips.
[[Honeyblood_3]] [[Honeyblood_2]]
Now here’s the rub. The music was really great for all those that were already familiar with some of the band’s music. Unfortunately, the sound engineering drowned out both vocals for most of the set. Regardless of where I stood, from the front row, to the back of the room behind about 150 people, the sound was the same. Great drum rhythms and fuzz riffs, but a muffle of a voice. And this is a shame because their harmonies are one of the best parts of Honeyblood. As a drummer, I admire the Myers’ aggressive drumming style, particularly in a lo-fi alt rock duo with just two instruments. To dampen that too much would also take away from the Honeyblood sound. But that’s what makes a good sound engineer and apparently, the venue just didn’t do them justice.
So Baby’s not quite all right as a venue to see this talented duo but don’t let that stop you from checking out Honeyblood on tour. Just first listen to some of the tracks from both albums, and see some of their live shows online, in venues that had a better sound. ◼
