Falconhawk - Here’s Your Ghost

Falconhawk - Here’s Your Ghost / 2005 Saved By Radio / 8 Tracks / http://www.falconhawk.ca / http://www.savedbyradio.com / Reviewed 08 September 2005

The electronic feel that Falconhawk has through the entirety of “here’s Your Ghost” modifies the Tegan and Sara sound that was all the rage into a smoothed-out, more-sedate style. What results is something in which Kara’s vocals really become similar to Delores from The Cranberries. While there are moments on “Here’s Your Ghost” that the music starts to blend into each other, Kara’s keyboards do much in shaking up the general feeling of the disc with a soulful, inspired solo (during the bridge of “Gay Man Pants”).The decision to make all elements of Falconhawk of equal value (specifically shown by the near-perfect leveling of Kara’s voice with the rest of the instrumentation) is interesting, to say the least.

The mastering of “Here’s Your Ghost” is intelligent enough to not allow the arrangements to tread over the quiet vocals of Kara, but rather lap at the shores (so to speak). The skillful use of guitar distortion during “It All Comes Down To Mars” is something that is virtually unheard of in current music; the current trend is to go and mask all effort with a generous swaddling of distortion, an obvious ploy to make a band sound stronger than they really are. By using distortion as an instrument instead of as a mask, Falconhawk add another distinctive sound to their general output, something that is absolutely essential in the late-disc position that “Down To Mars” enjoys (it is the ante-penultimate track on the disc). Just as the distortion on the previous track, the incorporation of a jangly, sleigh bells-sounding instrument during “Oxygen” provides a perfect dichotomy to a track that is essentially as smooth as silk.

The heavily piano-laden track is the first real “dance” presence on the track. This does not mean that Falconhawk is yet another Postal Service-sounding act, but rather draws upon the dance of previous eras for inspiration. The slower tempo of “Transparency” is a deliberate move by Falconhawk to allow for the perfect close to what is essentially a diverse and carefully-created disc. Nothing on “Here’s Your Ghost” smacks of a desire to sound like acts that are currently out; whenever a track starts up, an individual is necessarily sure that what issues forth is Falconhawk. A strong disc from stem to stern, Falconhawk will undoubtedly shake up the world with their new brand of indie rock that does not rely on simplistic arrangements or irony for individuals to appreciate.

Top Tracks: Transparency, Gay Man Pants

Rating: 7.0/10