Ladyhawk, Ladyhawk

This is the self-titled debut album for Vancouver-area band Ladyhawk, and it starts off slow. Not slow in tempo, but slow in terms of quality. The first full three songs (“48 Hours,” “The Dugout,” and “My Old Jacknife”), unfortunately, are indie-rock clichés. Usually a band — especially a new band — will put its strongest material first to reduce the chance that somebody not familiar with the music will walk away after only a song or two. With that in mind, it’s hard to imagine that Ladyhawk thought their first few songs were the strongest ones on the album. Really, if I weren’t reviewing the thing, I’m not sure I would have stuck around long enough to get to song number four. So it’s a good thing I’m reviewing it.

It’s at song number four that the album starts to pick up, although again, not in tempo. “Long ‘Til the Morning” is a slow, dirge-y number with a “woo woo” bit that conjures up a far-off train whistle. Its loneliness is worthy of Hank Williams himself. Maybe I’m just a sucker for the slow songs, but this is the one that I would have kicked off the album with. Well, alright, it wouldn’t so much “kick” the album off as “slink” it off, but no way would it drive anybody away.

The tempo goes back to mid after track four with “Came in Brave,” and here Ladyhawk start to sound like Neil Young or Silkworm. Not only are the vocals a dead ringer for Silkworm’s Andy Cohen at times, but so also is the snaky guitar work. And that’s a good thing.

Overall this is an uneven album, but it is Ladyhawk’s first. Hopefully given time, they won’t feel compelled to include the mediocre songs on further releases. Or at least maybe they won’t load it all at the beginning.