Ladyhawke Issue #38

Ladyhawke (Modular)

By Erin Wolf
Published: December 1st, 2008 | 12:00am

Pastiche is a pretty spot-on buzzword for New Zealand’s Ladyhawke (also known as Pip Brown). In fact, pastiche is what threatens to wash out the enigmatic qualities and honest musicianship of Brown. It is quite obvious that the 27-year-old has wholeheartedly embraced the music of her youth: Pat Benatar (“Manipulating Woman”), Cyndi Lauper (“Another Runaway”), Gary Numan (“Better Than Sunday”), and Depeche Mode (“Magic”) — all while cementing this foundation with her equal affection for currents such as Peaches, Santogold, Ladytron, and the Cars.

Drum machines, synths, and unobtrusive yet faintly-accented vocals are the backdrop for Brown’s songs, wrenched with emotionally overloaded lyrics — “Still hanging on / Can’t operate / I won’t eat and I won’t sleep for you.” (“My Delirium”) — and the kind of power balladry you’d expect from an artist named after an ‘80s film about unrequited love between two doomed shape-shifters.

In 2008, when the ‘80s are more popular than they were in the actual decade itself, it can be difficult to stomach even more Reagan-era overload — but this is one ‘80s love affair that, although made up with plenty of eyeliner and blue mascara, is also made up with zero pretentiousness. File under: Non-guilty, time-warped pleasure.

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