Ladyhawk reviewed
Ladyhawk
Ladyhawk
(Jagjaguwar)
The constant flow of Canadian bands into the American indie rock consciousness means a lot of our northern neighbors have to think hard aboot how they’re going to present themselves. Ladyhawk move a step ahead with their album cover, featuring a naked woman in a forest surrounded by what appear to be discarded cans of Steinlager.
Appearing: November 1st at Beat Kitchen in Chicago.
The Vancouver quartet have names that seem destined for a minor-league hockey team (Sean Hawryluk, Darcy Hancock, Ryan Peters, Duffy Driediger) and boast blue-collar attitude to match: “Your good lucks are fading fast/so fuck who you will.” The din on their self-titled debut constantly keeps Crazy Horse in mind, though with Driediger yelling in his Bob Mould tenor, they give the distinct air not of burnt-out hippies, but disenfranchised city kids. Vancouver, which is no Seattle, is at complete odds with the band, who don’t hesitate to call your mom a bitch. But Ladyhawk are folksy at heart (the handclaps on “My Old Jacknife” could be Catfish Haven or Belle & Sebastian), happy to twist a tale that opens with the macho men going downtown (“Came In Brave”) by immediately turning them around to have them crash on the bathroom floor. Steinlager wins again.
— Steve Forstneger
Click here to download “The Dugout.”
