Honey Chamber

written by : John E. Citrone
published : September 8, 2009

It should be noted that the promo photo CD for Jacksonville psych-pop band Honey Chamber arrived at Folio Weekly's offices in a used Netflix sleeve. It should also be noted that their new CD, "Bridge to Homesick," is beautifully designed, looking like an early Beach Boys album - if the Beach Boys were from the Pacific Northwest. That's just one of several cool things about the new record. Here are some others:

*"Bridge to Homesick" is out on Infintesmal, one of the raddest local labels going, featuring that hardest working DIY staff to ever hit the streets, with handmade fliers and handcrafted promo items and sweaty foreheads.

*Album opener, "Tonight," takes a cue from the golden age of acoustic-heavy Jane's Addiction, when Perry Ferrell was really messed up on dope and super-poetic and dreamy as a result. (Think "Summertime Rolls" meets "Jane Says.")

*Track 2, "I'm Not a Robot," is a terrific out-of-love ditty that actually makes a veiled reference to Styx's "Mr. Roboto." Mercifully absent are any references to Dennis DeYoung.
*The production is retro-indie but far from cliche - both jangly and wall-of-soundy, sometimes simultaneously.

*There are bongos all over this thing. Bongos!

*The art on the CD itself could be leaves. Or green stones. Or beans. I'm going with beans on this one.

*"Werewolf" is a fuzzy mess of a song, like a '60s rave-up with handclaps and a dancy vibe. That's a good thing by the way.

*Did I mention bongos?

* The band's publishing company moniker is "Road Canoe." What the hell is a road canoe? Imagine a long, thin boat with wheels and steering column and maybe a Pocahontas-type guide wearing a Honey Chamber shirt standing in the back.

*Album-closer, "A Place to Run" could have been written by some college kids in Asheville, NC. It's got a country-mountain feel that collapses into a muddy-minor bridge. And kazoos in the midsection.
Kazoos!
- The Folio Weekly

by Jack Diablo
published: July 7, 2009

This month's artist spotlight falls on local band, Honey Chamber.

Honey Chamber has been together in some form or another ever since the guys were in high school about seven years ago. Influenced by the likes of Built To Spill, Guided By Voices, Billy Bragg and Sebadoh, they season their sometimes laid-back, sometimes driving indie rock with a taste of the South. Honey Chamber is made up of the Elliott brothers, Jeff and Zach, Thomas Tooke and Ryan Ferrell. Every member is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.

Recently, Honey Chamber released their first album, Bridge To Homesick, with the help of local record label Infintesmal Records. Although the songs have been a part of the band's repertoire for a while now, they are ecstatic to have something to show for all their hard work.

"We finished recording this album four months ago," Jeff says. "We're just trying to get the music out there as much as possible." Exposure is the name of the game for Honey Chamber. They play several shows a month at venues like Weird Wax, Shantytown and Eclipse and have sent their music to college radio stations around the region. "I've given away plenty of CD's just because I want people to hear it," explains Zach of the band's philosophy.

Many, if not all of the tracks on Bridge To Homesick are heartbreaking songs that singer Jeff Elliott refers to as "anti-love songs." "All those songs came from a certain period," says Tooke, the band's drummer. "A crazy period," Zach adds. "And I'm glad it's captured." But this band isn't limited to singing about failed romance, painfully awkward moments and misery. "We got the heartache out of our system," Ferrell says in reference to the songs on the album and Jeff is quick to point out that, "A lot of the newer stuff is less anti-romantic." They also would like to expand their sound to incorporate some of their unique influences such as nineties shoegaze, 60s R&B and psychedelic rock.

With their new album still hot off the press, the band is already making plans to record an EP in Gainesville. They will be working with Rob McGregor who recorded Against Me!'s first album. Having already recruited a significant following, the band is looking to purchase a van to enable more out-of-town shows. "We just need to get out of the city somehow," says Zach. A possible Southeast tour is on the horizon with a stop in Savannah for the Pyro Independent Music Festival on July 4th, where Honey Chamber will perform outside of Florida for the first time. Ferrell sums up the band's future - "It can go anywhere from here."

Bridge To Homesick is available at Weird Wax as well as any Honey Chamber or Infintesmal show. - EU Jacksonville