A Gritty Snapshot of Love on the Brink

Dirty Honey’s official video for “Another Last Time” folds the Los Angeles quartet’s blues-bent hard rock into a widescreen narrative of love, relapse, and resolve. Set against the dusty facades of the Four Aces Movie Ranch in Palmdale, California, the clip places a fraying romance under motel neon and morning-after sunlight, mirroring the song’s push-and-pull between longing and clarity. Frontman Marc LaBelle, guitarist John Notto, bassist Justin Smolian, and drummer Corey Coverstone appear both as the band and as knowing onlookers, anchoring the story with a taut performance that underscores the track’s bittersweet punch.

Sound and Style: Classic Swagger, Modern Bite

“Another Last Time” leans into Dirty Honey’s strength for muscular, melody-forward rock. The song balances a blues-rooted riff with open-road momentum, locking into a mid-tempo groove that leaves room for LaBelle’s sandpaper croon and Notto’s expressive guitar phrasing. The rhythm section keeps the floor steady, favoring warm, rounded bass and crisp, unfussy drums that drive the chorus without crowding it. There is a lived-in feel to the arrangement: verses smolder, the chorus blooms with a big-hook refrain, and a late-song escalation tightens the drama before the outro wrenches free.

Dirty Honey draws on a lineage of 70s-inspired hard rock, but the production resists nostalgia traps. The tones feel immediate and unvarnished, the kind of studio capture that nods to live chemistry. Subtle backing harmonies shadow the chorus, while the guitar toggles between smoky rhythm work and tasteful, singing leads. The result is a track that feels both road-tested and radio-ready, full of swing, space, and grit.

Lyrical Crossroads: Cycles of Heat and Withdrawal

The song’s writing sketches a romance defined by temptation and consequence. Images of whiskey, motel rooms, and old flames outline a cycle where desire returns as reliably as regret. Phrases circle the idea of “one more go round,” a refrain that lands like a promise and a warning at once. The middle section hints at self-diagnosis, calling out “a toxic kind of life” and asking what it would take to break the loop. By the time the closing lines invoke walking a “wire,” the narrator sounds both exhausted and newly resolved, as if the final goodbye might finally stick.

What reads as a simple heart-on-sleeve rock song gains depth in the way it refuses to glamorize the spiral. The hook is sweet and anthemic, yet the verses insist on consequence. The tension between rush and recovery is where the track lives.

On-Screen Storytelling: Desert Noir Under Neon

Director Scott Fleishman frames the video as a short story with intercut performance. The Four Aces backdrop gives the production a timeless, cinematic aura, its diner, gas station, and motel trimmings instantly legible as a last-chance rendezvous. Cinematography by SEVENEIGHT leans into amber dusk and cool pre-dawn hues, shifting the emotional temperature as the couple circles their breaking point. Steadicam work glides through narrow corridors and across gravel lots, tracking glances and hesitations. Edits tighten around the chorus, while longer, drifting shots during the verses let the weight of the moment settle.

The cast paints a small-town ecosystem of witnesses and accomplices. As the couple’s dance repeats, side characters drift through the frame with knowing expressions, suggesting everyone here has a version of the same story. The band’s performance scenes double as a Greek chorus, grounding the narrative with kinetic energy. Props and setting do heavy lifting: a flickering vacancy sign, lipstick on a plastic cup, a room key passed across a counter. None of it overstates the case. The images echo the song’s metaphors and leave the rest to the viewer.

Band Presence and Performances

LaBelle sings with a seasoned rasp that favors conviction over theatrics, shaping the chorus into a plea that sits just on the edge of a shout. Notto, reliable for tone and touch, threads riffs with lyrical bends and brief, stinging fills, saving any flash for moments that count. Smolian and Coverstone give the song its spine, favoring pocket and punch over pyrotechnics. The quartet’s chemistry reads clearly on camera, the kind of lockstep attack that comes from miles onstage.

The narrative roles are ably handled by a rotating ensemble, including Elizabeth Marochok, Emma Jade, and Derek Phillips among others, whose glances, exits, and returns echo the song’s refrain. Their performances keep the stakes grounded and human.

Visual Language and Craft

The production embraces texture. Dust hangs in backlight, neon hums, and desert wind works as an unseen character. The color grade toggles between saturated heat and desaturated hangover, creating a visual refrain that mirrors the song’s “again and again” heartbeat. Practical locations and restrained VFX lend authenticity, while cuts often land on snare hits and guitar stabs, welding sound to image. Costuming skews classic Americana without tipping into caricature, and set dressing lingers just long enough to suggest histories without spelling them out.

Context Within the Catalog

“Another Last Time” fits neatly among Dirty Honey’s ear-grabbing, road-built catalog, where barroom romance and hard choices run alongside riff-first songwriting. In a live setting, the track’s dynamics and call-and-response chorus give the crowd an easy entry. On record, it underscores the band’s commitment to melody, feel, and punch over studio excess. It is the sort of tune that expands with each performance, its hook growing teeth as the groove gets leaner.

Key Creative Credits

  • Director: Scott Fleishman
  • Executive Producer: Marc LaBelle
  • Producers: Nick Hayes, Fredo Tovar, Edwin Tovar
  • Production Company: Aplusfilmz
  • Cinematography: SEVENEIGHT
  • Steadicam: Andres Raygoza
  • Gaffer: Sebastian Kolderup
  • Key Grip: Sultan Mars
  • Art Director: Red Ortiz
  • Editor: Scott Fleishman
  • VFX: Ted Walter
  • Location: Four Aces Movie Ranch, Palmdale, California

Band Lineup

  • Vocals: Marc LaBelle
  • Guitar: John Notto
  • Bass: Justin Smolian
  • Drums: Corey Coverstone

Final Take

“Another Last Time” captures Dirty Honey doing what they do best: classic-minded rock delivered with conviction, melody, and just enough sting to leave a mark. The video amplifies the song’s core tension through attentive storytelling and sun-bleached atmosphere, letting small gestures and sharp edits tell a familiar tale with fresh urgency. It is a rugged, resonant entry in the band’s body of work, built to last long after the motel lights flicker off.



Dirty Honey – Another Last Time [Official Video] Related Posts