Scottish duo Honeyblood played Brisbane’s The Brightside (31 March) as part of their first tour of Australia, all in support of their new album ‘Babes Never Die’.
Honeyblood have chosen a perfect name for their band. The songs of singer-guitarist Stina Tweeddale and drummer Cat Myers are filled with hooks that are sweet and will stick to your memory like honey.
But the music is performed with the ferocity of an attacking animal, as they showed at The Brightside.
Opening for Honeyblood were local band Twin Haus, whose mix of glitchy electronica and post-rock guitars proved interesting to hear and watch. Members of the band wandered the stage from one instrument to the next, with their moody textures bringing audiences into a state of thoughtfulness.
Honeyblood’s music is a lot less complicated than Twin Haus. Announcing their arrival with a loud burst of fuzzed-out guitar, Honeyblood launched into ‘Justine, Misery Queen’, a song filled with sharp hooks and stinging lyrics about friendship going sour.
With the band’s limited instrumentation, it’s amazing to see them exploring a wide range of styles. ‘Walking At Midnight’ is slow, heavy and bewitching goth-rock. The fast-paced ‘Sister Wolf’ sees the girls attacking their instruments as ferociously as the song’s animal. And ‘Ready For The Magic’ is a storm of handclaps and chanting, matching punk riffing with bratty-pop melodies.
All of Honeyblood’s songs explode with energy live, with Stina’s monstrous riffing given more urgency by Cat, who lets loose throughout every song and pummels her drums, seeing her having to fix them between most songs.
The duo’s energy was matched by an audience who bounced their way through the show, fuelled by the rush from the band’s sugar-sweet hooks.
Cries of “I fucking love you” from the crowd were returned by the band, who showed their love for their Brisbane audience with a short impromptu cover of the ‘Round The Twist’ theme, surprising many that the classic show had aired in Scotland.
The band finished their main set with the new album’s title track and anthem, ‘Babes Never Die’. The song sends the already bouncing audience into hyperactivity as they shouted the chorus back at the band.
Rather than kill the energy by disappearing and returning for an encore, the girls decided to stay and close with the one-two punch of ‘Super Rat’ and ‘Killer Bangs’.
Honeyblood are a sugar-rush of a live band whose melodies are addictive and their volume massive. You won’t get any cavities, but you will leave with killer songs worming their way inside your head.
