IN REVIEW: Brian Fallon - "Local Honey"

Though most still remember Brian Fallon as the howling force who broke out with Jersey Springsteen punks The Gaslight Anthem just over a decade ago, there's a strong case for his solo career thus far threatening to eclipse the work he did with the band that made him famous. While his first solo record (2016's Painkillers could be fairly leveled some "Gas-lite" criticism, the maturity and overall tone of the record established just how effective Fallon's writing could be; it was followed two years later by Sleepwalkers, which was livelier and more evocative of soul than punk, proving that Fallon wasn't scared to explore new avenues of sound while retaining the heart of his talents.

Enter third solo release Local Honey, which takes its cue not from his previous work per sé, but rather from the tenderest, most heartfelt and melancholy moments on those previous records. This isn't exactly uncharted territory, as each of his previous records (solo and band alike) have featured at least one show-stopping ballad that served as a reminder of Fallon's heart string tugging abilities; that Local Honey is an album full of them might not make for all that ringing an endorsement, especially for fans who greatly miss The Gaslight Anthem, but rest assured he pulls it off beautifully.

I attribute this album's success primarily to its conciseness; rather than drop a 45 minute plus slog, Local Honey offers eight tracks over 32 minutes, making for an album that is easy to digest despite the heaviness of its subject matter and the somber tones throughout. It's also easier to accept an album full of slow burn ballads when they're of the quality found here; as thrilling as his past rockers may be, it's these heartfelt and earnest numbers that have arguably been his most enduring compositions.

Thematically, Local Honey does offer a wide variety of emotions. Opening track When You're Ready is a reflective ode for his children which finds Fallon imparting important parental advice. 21 Days, meanwhile, ruminates on a broken relationship with emotional bite. That's followed by Vincent, which finds Fallon in full murder ballad mode with stunning results, as he tells the doomed story of a woman who's forced to leave the man of her dreams. Then, we have the haunted but hopeful I Don't Mind (If I'm With You), where Fallon credits the light of his life while acknowledging the darkness that still follows him; it's at once the album's most heartbreaking and assuring moment.

That sums up the A-side, but Fallon doesn't simply churn out more of the same on the flip side; Lonely For You Only is the album's most upbeat song, and offers a brief midway respite from the slower tempos while setting the stage for the remainder. Horses features a pretty melody and a little extra noise in the production that gives it the slightest hint of oddity. Hard Feelings comes next, quietly reflective and deceptively lush in its performance; Fallon is firmly in his wheelhouse on this one, and you can practically feel the assured swagger in his delivery atop this mid-tempo number that reminds me strangely of latter day Dire Straits. The album closes with lead single You Have Stolen My Heart, probably the slowest burn to be heard on Local Honey. An earnest, percussive dirge with a glowing heart, this is a love letter of the highest quality, the kind which Fallon has proven time and time again is among his greatest strengths as a songwriter.

With tight production, impassioned performances all around and the ability to pack such a range of emotions into such a small package without ever feeling like a chore to listen to, Brian Fallon just may have made his best album with Local Honey. Considering my affinity for his previous work, I was a bit apprehensive with the concept of an album of quiet introspection, but this is undeniably among the finest batch of songs he's ever gifted us. A personal and professional triumph.

March 27, 2020 • Lesser Known/Thirty Tigers
Highlights 21 Days • Vincent • I Don't Mind (If I'm With You)

Year in Rock 2025

Alright, I've got some explaining to do. By now anyone who's visited this blog is well aware of how infrequently I've used this space in recent years; aside from the occasional fertile year of content, I really haven't posted all that often over the last five years or so. There are many reasons for this, which have already been outlined in previous apology posts; but, essentially, it boils down to my own laziness and the cold reality that blogs are, like Refused (again), fucking dead. So, I wouldn't hold my breath for a triumphant return to reviews, or even semi-regular posts, but: a) I feel like Year in Rock posts have always belonged here and, even though I've experimented with different methods of presentation recently and been satisfied, the "blink and you missed it" unveiling via Facebook stories this year was perhaps ultimately a disservice to the records I lauded. After all, cramming the list into short videos isn't too far off from ju...

Year in Rock 2011 Nominee: Sam Roberts Band

SAM ROBERTS BAND I Feel You From: Collider Released: May 10 Having already endured the breakout success ( Brother Down was Canada's it rock song of 2002), the tentative dabbling in the U.S. market, as is the rite of passage for all moderately successful Canuck artists (2003's debut We Were Born in a Flame was the best time to try; one of the best albums of the year, it made a small dent in the American mindset upon its release there a year later), the difficult, druggy third album (the aptly named 2005 disc Chemical City ), and the subdued creative step backward (2008's Love at the End of the World , aside from hit single Them Kids , was really kinda bland), it seems according to script that Sam Roberts would start settling in on his fourth album (and first with the band credited as equal contributors), Collider (you know, I think it was a bad idea to give me brackets). Well, as far as settling in goes, Roberts does and doesn't on Collider . W...

IN REVIEW: Rancid - "Trouble Maker"

As far as punk rock goes, it's hard to name a hotter hot streak than the trio of records Rancid cranked out between 1995 and 2000; the star making ...And Out Come the Wolves , the far-reaching Life Won't Wait and their balls-to-the-wall second self-titled album solidly positioned Rancid as leaders of the second generation of punk. It also preceded a period of slow progression, as Rancid would take eleven years to release their next three records. By the time ...Honor Is All We Know came in 2014, many fans (myself included) had to wonder whether or not this was the end of the road. Such concerns are handily dealt with on the closing track of the standard edition of their ninth record, the positively punishing This Is Not the End . Well, okay then, that's sorted. Now, what of this new record? What do we make of the use of their original logo on the cover, a logo that hasn't graced a Rancid record in 25 years? Is this a throwback to the band's heyday, a new begin...

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