Jeffrey Underhill, former Velvet Crush drummer, has been quietly making music as Honeybunch for well over a decade, even though he's been dormant musically for several years. Still, his 'comeback' is most welcome, and it's really quite nice, too. It's fitting that it's on Bus Stop, too--considering he was one of the first artists on the label some fifteen years ago!
For a man who's made pretty, sweet indiepop, Honeybunch is both a nice continuation of--and a new direction for--the Honeybunch sound. This return to form starts off on a bit of a slow note-"Throwaway" is a pretty yet appropriately-titled number; and, surprisingly, is a thinly-veiled rewrite of Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight." Don't worry, though; Underhill's not turned into the Slow Hand, and "Fear of Dating" quickly picks up the pace with a new-wave beat and detatched singing from his wife, Lisa. "Light Enough To Fly" and "postcardfromeverettruess" are two jazzy, mellowed-out pop numbers that are quite pleasant to the ear. "Our Secret Life" is a pretty little number that throws in some pretty nice guitar and drum-machine interplay. All of these songs feature a lovely boy-girl vocal play. Most interesting, though, is that in the time since he's been gone, Jason Lytle's voice has become famous, and could it be that Underhill was a master of this coy, innocent singing style long before Mr. Grandaddy came to fame?
Honeybunch is a nice little comeback from someone who's been gone a little too long. It will be interesting to see which direction Underhill will take from here, but I'm pretty sure that no matter which route he takes, his music will remain consistently excellent. Once again, an unsurprisingly nice few minutes of my time and my life have been given to Jeffrey Underhill, and I'm not complaining.
--Joseph Kyle
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