This Texas trio channels ZZ Top right down to the tip of their beards, playing old-school, southern boogie rock in the vein of the sharp-dressed men. Starting off as a Butthole Surfers side project in the mid-90’s, Honky now have a handful of records under their novelty belt buckles, with this being their first one since 2012’s 421.
Corduroy gets right down to business with the title track, a mid-paced blues rocker that wears its ZZ Top influence on its sleeve. And yes, this is a song about pants…or is it? “Baby Don’t Slow Down” actually slows things down quite a bit, a laid-back, bass-heavy number with a big Lenny Kravitz chorus. “Outta Season” adds a funky horn section to the mix, with a saxophone and brass tradeoff leading into a super-fuzzy guitar solo. And “Bad Stones” has female backing singers on the chorus, accentuating the lead singer’s smoky southern drawl.
They even include a rollicking cover of Pat Travers’ “Snortin’ Whiskey,” which keeps true to the spirit of 70’s heavy blues. And “I Don’t Care” could almost be considered country, what with its twangy banjos and slide guitar. It beats the hell outta the stuff they play on “hot country” radio, anyways!
