As someone who has spent over thirty years writing for publications such as Forced Exposure, Spin, Arthur and The Wire, Byron Coley is someone who has a firm understanding of US rock music. So when he associates your band with some of the great Cleveland bands of the last century, people tend to sit up and take notice.Writing about Love Is Hard, the debut album for Brooklyn psych-punk power trio Honey, Coley states, “There's a consistent vibe … that puts me in mind of The Mirrors to Friction to Death of Samantha … Something about the way Dan Wise's guitar mixes with both his singing, and that of Cory Feierman's, reminds me of naught but a Lake Erie fish fry. And the rhythm section with Cory on bass and Will Schmiechen on drums bears down on these twinned howls in a way that makes it possible to catch whiffs of the Dead Boys at their sharpest.“Featuring members of Psychic Ills and Amen Dunes, the band play with loud distortion and hammering percussion that is primal but moves beyond just thud rock.“MFLH”, a track from the album, due for release May 6 via Wharf Cat records, blasts out like concrete spewing from a hose in some work site accident. It’s heavy, messy and will leave some damage.Listen below and read a short interview with Cory.NOISEY: I love the acronym.
Cory Feierman: Yeah. It's like our version of Alex Chilton’s "My Rival" but instead of standing “five foot five”, he's a long hair like us.What do you think of your sound reminding Byron Coley of the Mirrors and the Dead Boys?
I think it rules. The Dead Boys are one of those bands I never need to listen to again because those songs are so embedded in my brain (though maybe the Rocket from the Tomb's versions a little bit more). I've been obsessed with all those mid 70s Cleveland bands for years, and though I never thought of them as a direct influence on our sound I'm happily surprised it cuts through. We have a plan to play Electric Eels “Jaguar Ride” but only if we never practice it. Also, I've never been to Cleveland.New York seems to have some good loud rock and roll bands at the moment. Bands like yourselves and JJ Doll. What are things like?
I think New York is starting to get to a point I always hoped it would where different types of bands comfortably play different kinds of shows together. It’s not just five D-beat bands in a loft, or three instrumental neo psych bands at a bar, or eighteen noise projects in a basement. It feels more inclusive and varied. There are also so many killer bands right now; JJ Doll as you mentioned, Barbed Wire, Endless Boogie. Both Foster Care and The Men are back and are both amazingYou work at Academy Records, and I know you must get asked this all the time, but what’s the best record you’ve come across recently?
There's been a ton of great shit in the store over the last month, so its really hard for me to pick just one. We got stock of all these New Orleans 45's and Cyrille Neville's "Gossip" destroyed me. The best LP I've seen lately is The Marion Gaines Singers' Lord Here I Am on King from 71. It's a great gospel record with pretty wild wah and reverb guitar all over it. I also found a copy of Skip Spence's Oar in a box full of Laser Discs the other day.
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Cory Feierman: Yeah. It's like our version of Alex Chilton’s "My Rival" but instead of standing “five foot five”, he's a long hair like us.What do you think of your sound reminding Byron Coley of the Mirrors and the Dead Boys?
I think it rules. The Dead Boys are one of those bands I never need to listen to again because those songs are so embedded in my brain (though maybe the Rocket from the Tomb's versions a little bit more). I've been obsessed with all those mid 70s Cleveland bands for years, and though I never thought of them as a direct influence on our sound I'm happily surprised it cuts through. We have a plan to play Electric Eels “Jaguar Ride” but only if we never practice it. Also, I've never been to Cleveland.New York seems to have some good loud rock and roll bands at the moment. Bands like yourselves and JJ Doll. What are things like?
I think New York is starting to get to a point I always hoped it would where different types of bands comfortably play different kinds of shows together. It’s not just five D-beat bands in a loft, or three instrumental neo psych bands at a bar, or eighteen noise projects in a basement. It feels more inclusive and varied. There are also so many killer bands right now; JJ Doll as you mentioned, Barbed Wire, Endless Boogie. Both Foster Care and The Men are back and are both amazingYou work at Academy Records, and I know you must get asked this all the time, but what’s the best record you’ve come across recently?
There's been a ton of great shit in the store over the last month, so its really hard for me to pick just one. We got stock of all these New Orleans 45's and Cyrille Neville's "Gossip" destroyed me. The best LP I've seen lately is The Marion Gaines Singers' Lord Here I Am on King from 71. It's a great gospel record with pretty wild wah and reverb guitar all over it. I also found a copy of Skip Spence's Oar in a box full of Laser Discs the other day.
‘Love is Hard’ is available May 6 via Wharf Cat.