From 35 years ago, the long-lost debut album by short-lived indie band Honey Smugglers finally gets to see the light of day. They had little in common with their rivals, but that leaves them less tied to the confines of their age. Robert Plummer brings the past to life.

“Doctor, I reckon the Tardis is playing up again. You said we were going back to check on some long-lost indie band from just before Britpop, but this lot surely date from another 20 years earlier. I mean, no-one was making music like this in 1990 – or were they?”

And there, in a nutshell, you have the reason why the excellent Honey Smugglers failed to break through. In an era when the relentlessly twee childishness of anorak indie was still prevalent, they just sounded too grown-up. At a point when “record collection rock” was becoming a phenomenon, they summoned up the past with more sincerity than the average scrubbed-up imitation.

Listening to Honey Smugglers’ So Far in 2025, you get the impression that the band wanted to will the early 1970s back into existence. Chris Spence’s world-weary vocals and delicate guitar, Steve Cox’s Brian Auger-like keyboard grooves, their intelligent psych-rock-prog-folk blend, all contrive to make them a band out of their time.

True, the sound is more beefed-up than its antecedents and there are no flutes in earshot, but it’s still as though punk never happened. The vibe is there in the late 60s hippy-savant speak of opening song She Doesn’t Know. “I’ve worked out the shape of these things and their desperate flows/And I’ve begun other plans to let myself go,” sings Spence.

Psychedelic epiphanies continue with exuberant organ freak-outs during the hard-rocking Blind and the dreamy Good Afternoon, which even talks of “renting life by the shilling”. The slow, languid Greatest Lovers evokes the free-and-easy sexuality of what was then a bygone age. Meanwhile, Sad Parade focuses on “a blade of grass still damp from 1973” while espousing dated “get-it-together” counter-cultural sentiments.

To be fair, Honey Smugglers didn’t remain immune from the influences of their decade. Party time arrives with Shake Free, bringing a welcome dose of funk to the proceedings. And their most celebrated number, Listen, is a full-on baggy opus that must have fitted in nicely between the Charlatans and the Inspiral Carpets on contemporary indie dancefloors.

As the album continues, the band gradually adopt more of the mannerisms of their time, although from a career viewpoint, it was probably too little, too late. Rocking Horse and Mrs C are tough little proto-Britpop songs, the sound balance shifting as crunchy guitar riffs crowd out the keyboards. The hippie lyrics are gone, replaced by the cynicism of the age to come: “Don’t give life away Mrs C, remember/When you feel nothing, nothing hurts you.”

The final three tracks see the band stretching out, as if in an attempt to expand their range. Stay manages to reconcile the warring guitar and keyboard elements by taking a leaf out of the Doors’ book. Over an intense, drawn-out five minutes, Spence tells an ominous cautionary tale: “Stay in the light/Keep away from the dark and the insane.”

Apple Tree, short, sharp and replete with fierce organ riffs, adds a political bite lacking elsewhere: “England’s sleep dust fills my eyes/Softly sells the whitest lies.” Then it’s another five-minute epic, No, with abrasive guitar and a lyric that glories in destruction. “I call the missiles beautiful/And the flames are jewels to undress your eyes,” declaims Spence with a hint of madness in his voice.

Honey Smugglers were active from 1988 to 1991 and according to their label, these 12 tracks were carefully chosen and sequenced by the band. As presented, they portray a musical and emotional journey, from gentle introspection to savage aggression. That prompts the question: what caused such a stark transformation?

It’s easy to imagine a group frustrated and brutalised by an uncaring music business that never gave them an even break. On the other hand, that could be a complete illusion, created by simply putting the songs in a certain order. Whatever the truth of the matter, it’s a distinctive and valuable body of work – a worthy testament to a band who will remain forever stranded between the decades.

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You can find Honey Smugglers on Facebook here and order their album from Bandcamp here.

All words by Robert Plummer. More writing by Robert can be found at his author’s archive. He is also on X as @robertp926.