Luby Sparks

Released: 22.05.11 / Label: AWDR/LR2

Honey is the lead single for Luby Sparks‘ latest album Search + Destroy. They’re releasing through AWDR/LR2 who we’ve seen before working with Satoko Shibata. The name Luby is probably a play on the fact that the Japanese spelling for Ruby and Luby are the same. But that’s just a guess! Let’s do a little research and find out.

A 5-piece band from Tokyo, Luby Sparks is described as alternative rock, dream pop, or indie depending on where you look. Which gives me the impression that they either combine all the genres or have changed sound since they began in 2016. According to their bio on, weirdly, their YouTube channel, the band has had quite a lot of international collaboration behind the scenes on their music. They’ve also opened for a lot of bands on tour in Japan from overseas. No info on that L though… Let’s give the track a listen!

Wow. Well that was definitely pop. Weirdly I think I heard an exact guitar riff from a Jimmy Eat World song in there too. Overall it felt pretty flat for a song of this kind, which may be the styling of dream pop, I don’t know the genre very well, but it doesn’t really work for me. The vocals, rhythm guitar, and sparkly synths are all in the same range and it makes the song very top heavy. Without that sonic contrast it just feels a bit weak. The guitar and bass players are killing it though. Really great playing from them.

The lyrics seem to have a nice love story for us, but English is definitely not the singer’s first language. There’s no rhyme scheme, the grammar is pretty bad, and the pronunciation makes the whole thing hard to understand at all. I find this strange given how much work they seem to have done with international artists. The production is pretty bland and poorly balanced overall. And the single’s cover is needlessly risqué given the song’s lyrics. The album’s cover is much more subdued and would have worked fine here too. Obviously not my cup of tea, but let’s check out the verdict to finish today’s review off.

Stream or download the track