November 11th, 2011 
James Shotwell 
Artist: The Honesty
Album: Find Comfort Here
Genre: Pop Rock
Label: None
Due to the growing impatience of humanity in general, the expectations for an album aren’t exactly what they used to be. Anymore, all we ask is that it last roughly as long as our attention spans, which is typically measured by how long it takes for our Twitter feeds to update on our phones. In other words, not very long, but perhaps slightly longer for those of us with Blackberries. Full length albums are now about 10 songs, and a 4 song EP is perfectly acceptable. Though I still feel like there is a limit, 3 songs is pushing it, I’m not sure how I’m supposed to get a feel for an album that is only 3 songs long, which I thought would make my review for Find Comfort Here by The Honesty rather tricky. While I waited for the album to download, I noticed the file sizes suggested that the tracks were on the longer side, which naturally caused my mind to wander to another 3 song album, that just so happens to be one of my favorite albums of all time, Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s F# A# Infinity, with a running time of just over an hour, so perhaps I was being a bit too harsh, too early, though that was a rather unrealistic expectation, and actually couldn’t have been farther from the reality. Find Comfort Here clocks in at a grand total of just a tick over 8 minutes. It was going to take a lot to impress someone in just 8 minutes. No matter how good they may have been, from this point on it was going to be hard for me to accept the idea that this collection of songs is presented as a complete album. Before I even listened to a single song, it felt incomplete, I was sort of feeling ripped off in a way. If it was a bad album, it would be short and not good, but if it was good, there is no way I would be satisfied after just 3 short songs, so there was really no winning here.
Fortunately for The Honesty, they are a pretty impressive band, with a pop rock feel that, at times, was almost reminiscent of early-00’s era Long Island pop punk bands, which is quite the compliment coming from someone who grew up on those bands. And before I go any further, I feel like I should probably mention that this album is up for download, completely for free, and while it’s hard to complain about free music, I feel like the length of the album really inhibits a person’s ability to develop an idea for the identity of The Honesty. However, there is no ignoring the fact that The Honesty – which is now the solo project of Mikey Davis – can write a very impressive and very catchy song. Admittedly, there was a bit of an unpolished feel to the music, but I’m still undecided as to whether that is a fault, or if the slight blemish made me enjoy the music even more, but I’m pretty sure it’s a good thing. To be fair, I’ve spent quite a bit of time complaining about how nearly non-existant this album is, but if that qualm is pushed aside, the music itself is rather impressive. And some might argue that that is all that matters, but in the big picture, it really involves a lot more than that, an album is more about the sum of it’s parts, than the individual pieces, and in this case, while the songs are good, the sum just isn’t big enough. I have a lot of faith that this band has a very bright future in the works.
The problem that exists here is that I’m not here to just comment on The Honesty as a band, I’m here to review Find Comfort Here as an album, as a finish product. And despite the content of the album, I can’t stop thinking about how I feel like 3 songs just simply isn’t a finished album. And if I can’t listen to an album without thinking about how it’s just moments away from ending, something is wrong. If this album had even 2 more songs, my opinion would be completely different, but unfortunately, that isn’t the case here. If The Honesty took what they created, which to be fair, is really quite good, and managed to work out a few more songs of that caliber, I wouldn’t really have any complaints, in fact I would have no reservations in claiming that they are a band to watch. But as it is, Find Comfort Here more or less acts as a teaser, just a part of an album, a piece of what could have been a well rounded and impressive album. While the songs they did finish were quite good, I couldn’t just overlook the big picture. I can’t wait to see what’s next from these guys, I just hope the next album lasts longer than it takes me to finish a cigarette.
SCORE: 6/10
Reviewed by: Mike Hogan
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