in

Destroy Boys’ New Single Is Haunting and Poetic

A review of “Honey I’m Home”

Destroy Boys Honey I'm Home image

Destroy Boys are a Sacramento-based punk band whose rigorous tour schedule and blistering take on young adulthood have made them fast favorites of the modern punk community. Originally formed in 2015, they’ve evolved their take on the legacies Riot Grrrl and Queercore once more with their new single “Honey I’m Home,” which was released today.

This single follows the release of “Fences,” their first single of this year, which was released on January 24th. “Honey I’m Home” further develops the more refined sound that defined the band’s 2018 album Make Room.

Alexia Roditis singing
Alexia Roditis, Photo by JJ Mazzucotelli

The band originally began as a project between Guitarist Vi Mayguba and lead singer Alexia Roditis while they were still in high school. They released their first album Sorry, Mom in 2017, and followed up the year after with Make Room.

“Honey I’m Home” plays with similar themes as that of “Fences,” with a distinctly melancholic and personal lyrical tone combined with energetic instrumentals from Mayguba and Narsai Malik, who joined the band as their drummer in 2019.

Narsai Malik playing drums
Narsai Malik, Photo by JJ Mazzucotelli

The lyrics make strong use of horror imagery and tone and play with the idea of being unable to escape—lines such as “Hands over my eyes, I couldn’t see now if I tried” make up the song, and fill the listener with the sense of being watched. The song deals with the paranoia of leaving an abusive relationship and how it at times feels impossible to escape from that trap.

Vi Mayugba playing guitar
Vi Mayugba, Photo by JJ Mazzucotelli

The song is wildly effective at conveying the sense of helplessness that Roditis is expelling, which makes the moment of victory when they sing “I’ll throw a brick through your window, you’re not my home anymore!” almost palpable. This moment of escape is a beautiful crescendo to the short three-minute track.

The song is a wonderful follow-up to “Fences” and is quickly building anticipation for their new album, which has been teased in the band’s Twitch and Instagram live streams. Destroy Boys are scheduled to be touring with Against Me! in May and  performing on the Sad Summer Festival Tour.

Alexia Roditis singing and playing guitar
Alexia Roditis, Photo by JJ Mazzucotelli

Listen to “Honey I’m Home” here:

Thank you to Destroy Boys’ PR team, who sent 25YL the single before the official release. All photos are from Destroy Boys’ performance in Reno, Nevada on February 28th, 2020. The full edit can be found on JJ’s website.

Written by JJ Mazzucotelli

JJ uses They/Them pronouns and is pursuing a Bachelors in journalism and history at The University of Nevada, Reno. They are a freelance photojournalist and frequently works with various antifascist causes along the West Coast. JJ is heavily involved with their local Queer Student Union and Food Not Bombs. They can be found on twitter at @jj_mazzucotelli, on Instagram at @faerie_gothfather and on their website https://jjmazzucotelli.photoshelter.com/.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *