Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 22/9/08
Label: Modular

Has it come to this? No longer content with merely eating itself, pop's been excreting irony for years now - just look at the slew of club nights from Guilty Pleasures to Club De Fromage that serve-up dubious delights with a smirk and a knowing wink. But here's something no-one expected. Not only has the phrase Guilty Pleasures established itself firmly as a meme, but the remit has become part of the musical landscape. So what was once a joke is now the norm. What was once unacceptable in the '80s is now a post-ironic wet dream.

How else to explain Ladyhawke? How else to explain the fact that one of the most fashionable names to drop in 2008 sounds like Pat Benetar or Belinda Carlisle? On "Another Runaway", the 27-year-old Pip Brown, a Kiwi based in London, employs all of the classic, Brat Pack soundtrack tricks. Drums that sound like they were set up to work in tandem with a wind machine in a low rent performance video. Synths seemingly jammed to one setting - marked simply The Eighties - that stab and emote like they're auditioning for an episode of "Miami Vice". And a vocal that could have lifted its airbrushed sincerity from Carol Decker or her out of Berlin.

You can't knock Ladyhawke. She's got the style spot on. Be it the guitar in "Back Of The Van", which manages to appropriate the bloodless, MOR functionality that passed for mainstream entertainment two decades ago, or the "extremist" platitudes that litter "Crazy World" (Newsflash: "We're part of a crazy world") or "Another Runaway", Brown possesses a meticulous attention to detail that surpasses mere irony. This is not a joke. She wholeheartedly believes in this sh*t. And judging by the reaction of the world in general - oh joy - so does everyone else.

Some bright spark in a blog somewhere once commented that Radio One is now powered by John Peel's subterranean rotations. And you can't help think of dear old John's face as he introduced this type of polished mediocrity on "TOTP" week in week out. Back then, it was clogging the airwaves, pushing the truly worthwhile music out into the margins. Nowadays, with mainstream pop more ambitious and forward-thinking than ever, we don't need this throwback to duller, drabber times. Not even for a quick burst of giddy nostalgia. People will tell you "Ladyhawke" is fresh and exciting. They're wrong. It's horrendous.

    by Ian Watson