Every band wants to stimulate your brain in some way, but the Honeydogs are a little more overt about it on Amygdala, a title that refers to an almond-shaped bundle of neurons in the brain believed to govern emotions such as fear and pleasure.
The Minneapolis group emphasizes the latter on its sixth album, as the band zips effortlessly between sounds and styles. The Honeydogs roll through pretty indie-pop songs, rootsy rockers, bossa nova grooves and jazzy swing on Amygdala, their sixth album. All that dabbling would amount to musical dilettantism by a less confident band, but the Honeydogs never show a trace of doubt with arrangements that always seem to serve the songs without sounding forced.
“Blues For Castro” is a hooky midtempo piano number with echoes of ’70s pop; frontman Adam Levy sings with an air of tousled bemusement. Gritty guitars chase his distorted vocals through the rollicking “Devil’s Advocate”, while swanky horns strut around on “Ms. Ketchup And The Arsonist”, which features vocal contributions from Aimee Mann.
Levy’s lyrics are often arch and occasionally obtuse, and the unusual imagery in some of his songs makes clear how much he loves the malleability of the English language (and French, too, on “Elan Vital”). Yet he also writes with heart: “Please don’t cut to the chase/Let’s make it last/We don’t want our best days to pass,” he muses on “Don’t Cut To The Chase”.