Those of you who live in the Pacific Northwest have more than likely seen the mighty Columbia River at one point or another. (The fourth largest river in North America.) Now grab yer pirate gear, and a canoe (complete with nautical pirate flag) and follow it 1,250 miles to it’s source, and you’ll find Columbia Lake. Way the fuck up in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. Here’s a list of what you will see along the way: Sasquatch, big ass brown bears, Evergreen trees, a complete modern replica of Stonehenge, and eventually, Canucks all over the place playin’ hockey & drinkin’ Rye & Cokes.You will also find out it’s home to The Honeymans. That ska-skankin’ folk-funk-fiddle fest of a band that’s impossible to describe unless you’ve heard it already.

Based on their sound, I always thought these guys were either from Vancouver, or maybe Calgary, or at least in a place that has concrete. I never thought they lived in the middle of the sticks, hundreds of kilometers away from any form of civilization. Okay, okay, enough of the geography crap, and on with the music. The Honeymans are the ultimate party band. Blending together funk & punk, with fiddle, folk, & ska, these guys have a true sound of their own. I know Joey Shithead of D.O.A. is a big fan and even signed them to his label Sudden Death Records.

The Honeymans just released a live album, “Plugged Up” and it was recorded at some mountain pub in their hometown of Kimberly, B.C. and sounds like they all had a damn good time. They had the fancy lights and smoke machines present. (I must also report that Bigfoot was at the gig wearing diapers, and slamdancing in the pit.) I reviewed a studio album of these guys last year, and always wondered how they sounded live. I can now tell you they are just a tight, just a smooth, as they sound on the studio albums. (Not an easy feat, considering all the mayhem involved!) “Plugged Up” contains 16 live tracks with 4 tracks that were recorded in a cabin near the Skookumchuck Pulp Mill. (F.Y.I., Skookum loosely translated means Sasquatch in the Native-American Chinook language, so you know these guys are high up in the hills!!)

Favorite tracks include: Fiddle Solo- Death Metal- Big MacNeil’s John- Uncle Jack’s Bag Of Farts- and Drink Up Rude Boy!

September 2003

Review by Brian “Funkadelic” Gillespie

Now this is going to be interesting, an attempt to review an album that is almost impossible to describe! The sound of The Honeymans is somewhat like a jigsaw puzzle, one piece is Celtic Folk, another piece is funk, another is piece of punk, a few small gypsy pieces, and yet another ska/reggae piece. Put the shite together and……it’s The Honeymans!! No questions needed! When it comes to the live shows, Joe Keithley of D.O.A. fame, explains it best, “The Honeymans are truly a unique musical act…. Perhaps most surprising is that they can play in front of punks, hippies, folkies, rockers, and thrill-seekers and they all go away happy.” It made D.O.A. so happy, they invited The Honeymans to open up for them on D.O.A.’s Canadian tour last May.

They are a good time kind of band that include tracks like “Ska Wars” An obvious skankin’ ska song about the Star Wars movies, with lyrics like “R2-D2 when do I get to meet you, no garbage pile is ever gonna eat you…” Another great is the Nomeansno cover, “The Day Everything Became Nothing” Or the one minute track, “Johnny Fire’s Ring Of Cash” complete with perfect Johnny Cash sound alike vocals! “Kneel’s Reels” will please Shite’n’Onions readers the most, with some catchy fiddling, but it doesn’t end there. Every track is a surprise of how much they can twist up different styles of music like a pretzel, eat it right in front of you, then spit out the chewed up pretzel in your face, Honeymans style!! Enough funk to make Flea get up and skank like a Mexican jumping bean on angel dust. If you are in need of some catchy funk-punk ditties with some ska/reggae/Celtic-folk overtones check out this album. Or check ’em out live. With upcoming tours planned for Canada, USA, Europe, & Australia, no one has an excuse not to miss it. (including me, Procrastinator Extraordinare)

October 2002

Review by Brian Gillespie