Satellite Aphrodite (Deathwish Inc.) is the debut album from Oklahoma’s Mad Honey, a four-piece who are variously described as dream-pop, shoegaze, indie and glitter rock (whatever that is).
As the band name might suggest, the songs on Satellite Aphrodite marry sweet listenability with angsty abrasion. From the opener “Tuffs Last Stand”, and throughout the record there is a distinct air of nineties alternative music and the bands from that era that similarly combined pop music tropes with something emotionally or sonically “heavier”.
The acoustic guitar-led melancholy drowsiness of the aforementioned track recalls Mazzy Star, whilst tracks such as the wistfully meandering “Larkpur” owe a debt to Slint and Codeine, and on songs like “Psycho” and “Heavier Still” the juxtaposition of huge noisy guitars with pop melody offers a nod to My Bloody Valentine.
As the musical texture flows between tranquil and intense, Tiffany Sutcliffe’s voice stands out as the most distinctive element. Whilst perhaps comparable to that of Hope Sandoval or a less aggressive Courtney Love, her singing truly occupies a space of its own. Smooth and mellow, yet somehow bristling with emotional urgency, it acts as something of an anchor that unites these songs throughout their stylistic and dynamic fluctuations.
Speaking of music style and genre, Mad Honey, for all their undeniable nineties-ness, are actually quite difficult to categorise. Dream-pop or shoegaze probably suffice for the most part: jangling atmospheric electric guitars often dominate, tempos are generally steady, subtle synth parts contribute to a dreamy, surreal atmosphere, and the meaty drums and bass provide a grandiose, epic feel.
But Satellite Aphrodite often deviates from that template. Indeed, some of the songs lean more towards an acoustic singer-songwriter format, and at certain points such as the climax near the end of “Concentration,” the music crosses into genuinely heavy territory, with wall-of-noise power chords and the odd riff. Most striking is the way that this music truly makes use of an extremely wide dynamic range — often within one song — and still remains cohesive.
Satellite Aphrodite is a diverse and dynamic record that is atmospherically and emotionally coherent thanks to its reverb-saturated and slightly lo-fi shoegaze-style production and Sutcliffe’s ever-present and enchanting vocals. In spite of its pop approach to melody, it perhaps lacks the sort of enduring and timeless melodic hooks that helped its influences achieve legendary status. Nevertheless, it is a melancholic joy to experience.
Given that this is the first record of a young band, Mad Honey will surely not only be celebrated for this release, but watched keenly by many who will be eager to see what another year or two’s worth of experience will allow them to produce next.
Buy the album here:
https://madhoney.bandcamp.com/album/satellite-aphrodite
7 / 10
DUNCAN EVANS