Another Last Time

Hey Zoo Freaks, the Zoo Crew's got the turntables spinning something real special from Dirty Honey right now with "Another Last Time" off their self-titled album. This track hits that sweet spot of soulful grit and classic rock swagger that feels right at home here on THE ZOO, where we keep the freeform album rock flowing without the commercials. It's one of those songs that sneaks up on you, the kind that makes you pour another drink and think about the times you swore you were done with something for good, only to circle right back around.

Marc LaBelle has talked about how this one came together during the quiet stretch of lockdown. He called it a total quarantine baby. Sitting at his recording console one day, he had the guitar in open-G tuning, the same setup Keith Richards used for so many of those rolling Stones riffs. He was just messing around, playing some Stones-style stuff for the fun of it, when he stumbled onto a progression that felt soulful and right. LaBelle had been carrying the title "Another Last Time" around in his head for a while, waiting for the right music to match it. Once that riff showed up, the lyrics pretty much wrote themselves. He said if you can't write a song around a title like that, you're not doing your job as a songwriter. The whole thing is about that toxic pull, the kind of relationship or habit you know is no good for you, yet you keep going back for one more go-around before saying goodbye. Lines about her burning like whiskey and using him up like a motel room paint the picture clear as day.

The band leaned into that theme when they made the video for it. Instead of the usual performance clips, they went for something ambitious. Director Scott Fleishman and the crew shot the whole thing as one continuous five-minute take out at a no-frills budget motel somewhere in the California desert. Four different storylines play out at the same time: a married cop and his mistress, a cheating gambler, a couple of girls getting a thrill from a robbery, and someone chasing a score. The camera moves through the rooms like it's part of the action, and everything had to line up perfectly with Marc singing out on the walkway. They rehearsed the sequences down to the second and ran through about forty takes over a twelve-hour shoot to get it right. LaBelle explained that the song is about any addiction or compulsion you just can't kick, whether it's a person, the money, the danger, or whatever else keeps pulling you in. That video captures the restless energy of it without ever cutting away.

"Another Last Time" closed out the self-titled Dirty Honey album that dropped in the spring of 2021. It later climbed to number twenty-three on the Mainstream Rock chart, proving these guys know how to deliver a track that sticks with rock radio and the folks who still care about real guitar-driven songs. The whole album was shaped by the same strange times that birthed this particular tune. They had planned to head back to Australia to work with producer Nick DiDia, the same guy who helped them on the earlier EP, but travel shut down. Instead they set up at Henson Studios in Hollywood with DiDia supervising remotely from halfway around the world. That extra time let them refine the material and add songs that might not have made the cut otherwise. "Another Last Time" was one of those late arrivals that completed the record in the best way.

Dirty Honey didn't appear out of nowhere. The story starts with guitarist John Notto leaving Maine and heading to Los Angeles with the idea of chasing the same kind of success Guns N' Roses found on the Sunset Strip. He crossed paths with Marc LaBelle, who was singing in a covers outfit that went by Ground Zero at the time. Notto joined in, and the two of them started pushing toward original material. They brought in bassist Justin Smolian, and then Smolian connected them with drummer Corey Coverstone, who was eager to jump on board. For a stretch they were calling themselves The Shags, but LaBelle had the name Dirty Honey sitting in his phone after hearing Robert Plant talk about his Honeydrippers project on the radio. It felt like the right kind of dirty rock and roll moniker, so they made it official.

Things got serious after they played their second show right there on the sidewalk of Sunset Boulevard in front of about a hundred people. That was 2017. A longtime friend who knew the music business took on managing them after hearing the early demos. Suddenly they were opening for Slash, Guns N' Roses, The Who, and Alter Bridge, and their first single "When I'm Gone" made history by becoming the first track from an unsigned band to hit number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. They stayed independent, released that first EP themselves, and kept the momentum going through sold-out headline runs and festival stages. The full-length album followed with the same spirit, and "Another Last Time" sits on it as a reminder that these guys know how to slow things down and still hit hard.

You can dig deeper into everything they're doing over at their official site, dirtyhoney.com. That's the place for the latest news, tour dates, and merch straight from the source. Keep up with the day-to-day on their official Facebook page at facebook.com/DirtyHoneyMusic, check the photos and clips on Instagram at instagram.com/dirtyhoneyband, and follow the updates on X at x.com/DirtyHoneyBand. Those are the accounts the band runs themselves, so you're getting it straight from the source without the middlemen.

What makes a song like this work so well for the Zoo Freaks is the honesty in it. Dirty Honey isn't chasing trends or dressing up old ideas in new clothes. They're playing the kind of rock that comes from the gut, the same spirit that kept bands rolling through the clubs and out onto the big stages decades ago. LaBelle's voice has that raw edge that cuts through, Notto's guitar work carries the weight of the riffs without overplaying, and the rhythm section keeps everything locked in tight. When they dig into a track about knowing better but going back anyway, it feels lived-in rather than manufactured. That's the kind of music we like spinning here, the kind that holds up whether you're riding the highway with the windows down or just sitting with a cold one after a long day.

The band has kept moving since that first album, putting out more records, hitting the road hard, and even landing a live album that captures the energy they bring night after night. Through it all, "Another Last Time" remains a standout, the closer that leaves you thinking about your own cycles and the ones you keep promising yourself will be the last. Next time it comes around on the playlist, give it a closer listen. The open-G riff, the way the chorus builds, and that final declaration of one more go-around before goodbye all add up to something that sticks with you. Dirty Honey started on the sidewalks of the Strip and worked their way up the hard way, staying true to the rock and roll that brought them together in the first place. That's a story worth telling, and a song worth playing loud for the Zoo Crew and every Freak tuned in.