[Locals Only] Honey Pie

Just Like Honey

Huntington Beach’s Honey Pie are a new band. Very new. They haven’t even had a show yet; this Tuesday at the Gypsy Lounge will be their first. But that doesn’t mean the performers involved are new to the Orange County music scene: Singer Trisha Smith used to be the lead vocalist for celebrated locals Venus Infers. And while that band went in a noticeably different musical direction following her departure, Honey Pie aren’t simply a return to the Monsters Are Waiting-esque sound of Smith-era Venus Infers. Theirs is a sweet, pastoral folk, with a tinge of old-school country on songs such as “Never Get Enough”—not unlike, say, She & Him.

Ryan Williams

Honey! We’re home!

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More About

• Huntington Beach
• She & Him
• Barrett Johnson
• Darian Zahedi
• Rilo Kiley

Though they’re just now closing in on their first gig, they already have an EP (seems slightly backward, but at least they have something to sell at shows). The songs were written by Darian Zahedi—who also co-produced and contributed guitars, keys and backing vocals—but the star is clearly Smith, whose vocals elevate everything else around her. That’s not to sell the rest of the work short—see the guitar solo on “Uh Oh” and the slow-but-steady musical accompaniment in “When You’re Gone”—it’s just a tribute to the understated, evocative ability of Smith’s voice, alternately spunky and wistful.

“Place In My Heart” plays like a more-sincere version of Rilo Kiley. Maybe too sincere for some: The chorus “There’s plenty of space, but just in case, I’ve saved you a place in my heart” is just begging for little eyeroll emoticons. But even if it is strikingly earnest, it’s because the people behind the music are, as well—and given the current state of things, a little cheer is more than welcome.

Honey Pie play with the Union Line, Avenue of the Giants and Barrett Johnson at the Gypsy Lounge, 23600 Rockfield Blvd., Ste. 3A, Lake Forest, (949) 206-9990; www.gypsylounge.com. Tues., 8 p.m. Free.
Visit Honey Pie online at www.myspace.com/honeypiemusic.

aching@ocweekly.com