SINGLE REVIEW: War Honey - I Don’t Blame The Rats

Brooklyn, New York, Indie Rock band, War Honey, release single ‘I Don’t Blame The Rats’.

War Honey was formed in mid-2019 when vocalist Gabrielle Dana and guitarist Ben Fitts began writing songs together shortly after becoming roommates in Brooklyn, NY. The recorded a demo, began booking shows in early 2020 and managed to play exactly two of these shows before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘I Don’t Blame The Rats’ is War Honey’s first single release since the 2022 EP ‘Last Woman Left at the Market’. This new single continues those rich and deep atmospheres with Jazz influenced elements.

I find ‘I Don’t Blame The Rats’ ventures into much heavier territory, demonstrating ethereal distorted guitars and progressions. The vocals are distinct, strong and operatic, it is quite an intimate track.

My first thoughts were “Goodness, a jazz track!  …that feels something which would match up to a detective noir film and is possibly way out of my depth” but a deeper listen proves me wrong, building suspense with each lyric before belting out those distorted guitars.

The storytelling is gripping and melancholic and the overall vibe travels like an ocean, building suspense and crashes giving the listener chills.

I admire the production quality of this too, very clean and creative panning paints a cold and weary cinematic soundscape, it transports the listener to another world and for 5 minutes I was truly was transported, feeling those bass tones, the highs of the guitars and the ghostly chills that the reverb of the vocals gave.

I must say, from the single alone I am aching for more from War Honey. It’s not an easy listen and there’s much to unpack, there’s patience needed to get through it to truly admire this track. The single cover art is misleading but works in its own right and who doesn’t love dogs?

My final words to describe this single would be poetic, dark and dramatic, the perfect fit within much of my own inspirations.

War Honey is Gabrielle Dana, Ben Fitts, David Bloom and Ian Ackerman.

“I Don’t Blame The Rats” Out Now.