June 6, 2006 (better known as 6/6/06) may not turn out to be the date of the apocalypse, but aside from the countless satanic rituals and fiestas, it will certainly be a day on which one hell of a lot of off-color movies, music, books and other such merchandise is released and purchased. For starters, the remake of the 1976 horror movie classic "The Omen" about the spawn of Satan, Damien, will hit theaters on the day that bares the beast's mark (which must be the film marketer's dream).
Perhaps a more under-the-radar release, Ladyhawk's self-titled debut album will be among this corrupt company. The album is in no way evil, though. Actually, overall, it is quite the contrary. The album presents a pleasant sound packed with catchy rock-rooted tunes overflowing with energy.
The first track, "48 Hours," does not go on for two days, but rather a mere two minutes. Within the two minutes, Ladyhawk begins with a mellow song that is interrupted midway through by a climactic burst of drums crashing, distressed but enjoyable yelling and hard guitar riffs. The song quickly winds back down to its calmer state and slowly fades away with a simple drumbeat. It seems somewhat reminiscent of Nirvana but not quite as apathetic and "grungy."
On deck is "The Dugout," which knocks the album out of the park (pun intended, but embarrassingly unsophisticated). Unlike the first track, "The Dugout" is exuberantly up-tempo. The beat is fast, the vocals are harmonious, and there are impressive guitar solos toward the middle and end of the song. Also, the lyrics are well written and the chorus is memorable. "So tell me the truth of your heart. Please tell me. Please tell me," beautifully bellows the chorus. This song epitomizes Ladyhawk's evident love and talent for making music.
"My Old Jackknife" comes in next with a song about a metaphorical knife that cuts us free from the obstacles of life. "My old jackknife is always on me, and every time they tie me up, I cut myself through, I cut myself through" proudly states the first line of the song. This is also a great example of how Ladyhawk will occasionally sing the last phrase twice, which almost always enhances rather than annoys. In addition, behind this introduction and throughout most of the song, there is a hand clapping with the beat, which, though primitive, nearly never fails to invigorate. Something about the beat being kept with the clap of a hand is always entertaining.
Later in the album, "Advice" is pessimism at its finest and most extreme. The song begins by saying, "You're just a drop in the bucket, more meat for the stew, to be chewed up and swallowed or spat back out." Then there is silence for a moment and the song continues. This is a common trend throughout the song. These moments of silence are poignant and almost eerie. To sum up the overarching suggestion: You only live once, and life is already bad enough, so do whatever you want while you still can. Take advantage of life because, as the song reasonably remarks, "Soon you'll be dead." What inspirational advice!
The CD closes with "New Joker." The song begins completely acoustic. The singing is a tad below average here for some reason, and yet, it is somewhat endearing at the same time. About a minute in, the song ditches the acoustic path and goes back into what Ladyhawk does best. The band members clearly know how to utilize each one of their instruments separately and together. The instruments impeccably combine to form a single melody that is rather respectable. The song concludes with all the instruments exploding and then slowly dying out until all that remains is some feedback. The feedback ending is kind of clichéd, but everything that comes before it is so well done, it does not matter at this point.
The only problem is that the vocals sometimes sound a tad digitally altered with echo and other professional sound editing tricks. This definitely does not hurt the album in any way.
Actually, it sounds great. The problem is that it begs the question of how the band would sound live. However, the band's potential for a poor live performance is merely speculation and is not what is on trial here. What matters is whether their self-titled debut album is an enjoyable listen. So does Ladyhawk rock? Hell yes.
Rating: 4 out of 5
