Archive for the ‘review’ tag
Album Review: Ladyhawk - “Shots”
As a first-time reviewer I felt it was important to pick something fresh and new to me, and Ladyhawk’s Shots is the perfect case of that.
I was introduced to the band during a camping trip for the Canada Day long weekend, as a good friend of mine who collects hordes of independent artists, mainly from Canada, was playing them along with Okkerville River and immediately became enamored in both.
After spending about a week delving into as much Okkerville River as possible, my attention was soon taken away when picking up Vancouver band Ladyhawk’s Shots.
The first song instantly grabs the listener’s attention, it takes a few seconds to get going but once it does, it’s a spirited anthem of crashing and banging. However, high above it all screams what I imagine is a keyboard singing an almost eerie melody, which subsides until the next chorus.
Duffy Driediger, lead singer and guitarist, has a great voice that hits the middle range of tones and matches perfectly with the rough and tumble style of guitar and rhythm. It’s one thing to have a powerful rock sound, but it’s another thing to have a singer that beautifully compliments it and adds even more passion to the already voltaic energy being exuded.
The album takes a break from the intensity of rock and roll for a couple of slow songs starting with I’ll Be Your Ashtray followed by the serenely melodic Faces of Death. Afterward, the listener is treated to a love song of sorts called Night You’re Beautiful where the singer professes his love for nighttime.
A rock album just wouldn’t be the same without a 10 minute epic and Ladyhawk serves up a good one with Ghost Blues which comes in at 10:37 in length. Don’t be fooled though, it’s not ten minutes of the same song, it shifts gears about two-thirds of the way through and grooves us all the way out.
The albums ends how it started, with an high-tempo signature song called Different Beginnings which features during the chorus another eerie melody performed by the keyboard, and there’s no doubt by the end of this song the listener is left wanting more.
Their previous self-titled album is something I have yet to pick up, as Shots was the album I was introduced to and immediately fell right into it. Expect a full review of their debut album as soon as I can find a copy of it.
Ladyhawk’s Shots is a monument of Canadian independent rock and this is an album that no one should miss.
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