Honesty Box

Debut “official” release from this Eastern-Massachusetts two piece. Guitar and drum duets with plaintive, earnest vocals. Now 21, the members have been playing together since high school. The guitar shifts between delicate strumming and really blown out, dirty sounding fuzz. The drumming is precise and crisp but never overstated. It’s very much an exercise in 90’s revivalism, with the odd phrasing and angularity of Polvo, the isolation of Jandek, and the tense preciousness of Joan of Arc or Victory at Sea. Totally raw and unpolished, but completely honest with no artifice. Wonderful! But I can’t help but wonder what they would sound like with a bassist?

FCC Clean. Faves 1, 6, 2,

1. Amazing jangly opening guitar line
2. Beautiful vocals on the chorus
3. A little mopey
4. Slower, quieter, doesn’t have a clear direction but gets to a great ending
5. Repeated chorus “Big enough for the truth”, almost gets anthemic for a second
6. Really bittersweet, very intimate singing, I’m a real sucker for this one
7. Twangy and shorter, gets loud and thick
8. Less drumming than the other songs