High Lowdowns - Honey Moonshine (2024) Hi-Res

High Lowdowns twist up a little jangle, a little twang, a bit o' garage, and a splash of rock delivered with a hearty dose of melody, vocal harmony and some damn sticky hooks.

Bar-band from Worcester, Massachusetts; High Lowdowns are back and yes, Gregg and Julia Levins are firing on all cylinders with this their second album of Alt Country-Folk.

Even if I didn’t already know the band, opening track So Much More To Life would have stopped me in my tracks with its’ meaty, beaty, big and bouncy melody and fabulous harmonies on a song very much ‘of her times.’
Even by the time the third track, the titular Honey Moonshine closes, you know that you are in the company of two very special musicians who really deserve a much bigger audience.
In my review of their self-titled previous release I said they were “influenced by The Byrds, but sounds nothing like them as there’s more of a dark and bass heavy Garagey production that feels like a velvet fog hanging over the Twangy guitars,” and to all intents and purposes that formula is still in play here; but the songwriting has moved up several notches and the couples’ delivery has moved on up in keeping.

On songs like The Devil You Embrace, Can’t Shake You Out and the finale Sun Sets West where Gregg takes the lead with his nasally vocals that craves your attention to hear and dissect his deceptively intricate tales.

While the couple bill themselves as ‘Alt. Folk’ there’s an overwhelming Country Rock vibe going on the way their punchy melodies and stories are constructed; with Not Sharing and Can’t Shake You Out being prime examples of something I’d love to hear on a Friday night in Nashville or downtown Ouseburn in Newcastle.
Totally disregarding my earlier notes, I’ve become smitten with Turn This Thing Around where Julia takes the lead on a punchy song where she sounds like she’s suffered heartbreak in every single year of her life.
For that it’s an easy contender for Favourite Song status; raw and emotional Wilted just about tips the balance in its favour, and the slow burning and desperately emotional Country ballad Soul Tied kind of stands out all on its own and wins being ‘my Favourite’ by smidgen.

So there you have it, HONEY MOONSHINE is the perfect follow up to High LowDowns debut album will both please existing fans while easily bringing in a swathe of new fans too.