Bandcamp Honeybadger are not interested in sounding like they were recorded in a garage in 1994, and Let There Be Light makes that clear inside the first bar. The Athens band’s second album is stoner rock filtered through a modern, radio-facing lens: big choruses, grunge-weight riffs, and a surprising amount of synth threaded through the arrangements, all delivered with the polish of a group aiming for the main stage rather than the basement. The cover, a hand raising a ribboned dagger against a purple and teal haze, has that same widescreen, slightly commercial sheen. This is desert rock with the dust cleaned off, and how much you love it will depend a lot on how you feel about that trade.
The songs mostly justify the ambition. When Honeybadger tighten up and trust a hook, they are very good at this: “Panic Button” is the standout and the best-sounding thing here, a clean, defined mix with the mids kept open for the vocal, a metallic growl on the bass locking to the kick, and rhythm guitars that stay articulate even when the arrangement thickens. “Filth and Disorder” rides a scratchy, well-defined riff with a genuine swagger, the kick punching through with real attack. There is craft in the writing, the choruses land, and the band clearly know how to build a song toward a payoff. The synth work, on the title track especially, opens up airy, spacious verses that give the heavy choruses something to crash against.
The reservation is the production, and it is the flip side of that polish. Too much of Let There Be Light is pushed loud and clean to the point of sterility, and the drums are the main casualty: across “The Green,” “Diamonds” and “Empty Handed” they read as heavily triggered and sample-reinforced, a hard click on the kick with little body behind it, a snare that sounds static and stripped of its natural resonance. The master chases maximum loudness hard enough that the denser choruses stack up in the upper mids and lose some air, and the whole thing occasionally feels more assembled than played. On music that wants to swagger and groove, a little more room and a little less grid would go a long way. The rawness that the best stoner rock lives on has been polished off here, and the record is a touch less alive for it.
Let There Be Light is a confident, catchy, well-written sophomore record from a band with real songs and clear commercial instincts, and stoner fans who like their fuzz modern, tuneful and clean will find plenty to sing along to. It is held back, not by the writing, which is genuinely strong, but by a production that mistakes slick and loud for powerful, and sands off some of the grit these songs would wear well. When Honeybadger lock into a groove and let the hook carry it, as on “Panic Button,” they are a genuinely good band. A rawer take on the next one, and they could be a great one.
Modern, hook-forward stoner rock with grunge weight and synth threaded through, produced slick and loud. “Panic Button” is the standout and best-sounding track: a clean, defined mix with the mids kept open for the vocal, a metallic growl on the bass locked to the kick, articulate rhythm guitars that hold up as the arrangement thickens. “Filth and Disorder” rides a scratchy, well-defined riff with swagger and a punchy kick. The synth work, especially on the title track, opens airy spacious verses for the heavy choruses to crash against. The reservation is the production’s sterility: across “The Green,” “Diamonds” and “Empty Handed” the drums read as heavily triggered and sample-reinforced, a hard click on the kick with little body, a static snare stripped of resonance. The master chases loudness hard enough that the denser choruses stack in the upper mids and lose air, and the whole thing occasionally feels more assembled than played. Strong writing and real hooks, sanded a little too smooth by a mix that mistakes slick and loud for powerful.
Standout tracks: Panic Button, Filth and Disorder, Let There Be Light
