Review Summary: Satchel return with their heaviest album to date.
A successful comeback is not an easy thing to accomplish in rock music. The great majority of bands, despite noble attempts, just fails to expand on their style producing a rehashed, often watered down version of their old far superior music. Seatlle-based trio Satchel didn't have an easy task at all due to the high quality of their previous records. Their criminally underrated debut "EDC" released back in 1994 remains the creative pinnacle of alternative rock that blended harsh, grungy rock with exceptional Shawn Smith's vocal delivery ingrained in funk and soul. The results were supremely psychedelic as well as unquestionably refreshing. What is more, they followed this record with "The Family" (1996), an almost equally consistent send-up to traditional pop rock. After as many as 14 years, the new album "Heartache And Honey" feels more like a worthy extension on old style than a reproduction of their superb albums from the mid-1990s.
From the get-go, "Heartache And Honey" surprises with powerfully harsh guitar-driven sound. The opener "The Return Of..." sets the tone for the whole album making a great use of densely-layered guitar riffs courtesy of Joan Hoag, drummer Regan Hagar's firing on all cylinders and amazingly soulful Shawn Smith's vocals. The track builds to a monster of a climax in its short running time, which leaves you yearning for more. The rest of the album succeeds on a grand scale benefiting from Satchel's tendency to make their songs as diverse as possible throughout the record. "Seeing Stars" is an airy psychedelic journey in which thick, dirty guitar riffs battle electronic loops, while "Created A Monster" resembles the latest offering of The Pineapple Thief with its magnetic fusion of punctual guitar riffs, bouncy bass slaps and playful keyboards. Condensed as it may be, "Solid Gold" is an excellent funk rock track that finds the act experimenting with dynamics in the spaced-out bridge. Other hard rocking highlights include irresistably catchy "Drift" as well as slow, distorted guitar-driven "Carrier Of Silence" that closes the album in a magnificent way.
This wouldn't be a proper Satchel's album if it weren't for mellow, stripped-down compositions placed chiefly in the second half. Even if they don't make as huge of an impression as more hard-edged tracks, they showcase yet another completely different approach to songwriting which many listeners might find endearing. Darkly existential bluesy ballad "Might As Well Be Dead" superbly exemplifies this kind of economical, yet effective songcraft. The other down-tempo tracks that do it just as well are the intimate acoustic love song "Since You've Been Gone" and the piano-driven charmer "The Border" which utilizes a delicate string accompaniment to great effect.
"Heartache And Honey," just like the previous Satchel's albums, comes as a strong alternative rock record that encompasses a great variety of genres remaining totally cohesive throughout. The tracks, which last around three minutes, are always focused due to extremely tight songwriting. It's apparent that after so many years the band still has necessary skills to produce music of high standard. In such situations the same question always arises: "Will they get noticed by more than just a handful of devoted fans?" The answer just cannot be affirmative since Satchel released this album completely by themselves and thus the access to their music is regrettably severely limited now. However, it doesn't change the fact that "Heartache And Honey" stands as one of the most spectacular rock releases of the year.
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