Classic rock is the name of the game on this album. The characters are listening to Ozzy's “Crazy Train” on “Do it to Death” and there's also a riff eerily reminiscent of Bowie's “All the Young Dudes”. Add to that the handclaps, harmonicas, and other standards of the classic rock era found throughout the album.
I imagine the members of Ladylike hanging out, having a few beers, and listening to the songs they grew up hearing, in that time before they had developed opinions about music. On the car radio going to school. Or when they woke up in the middle of the night and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. The times their parents could let their guard down and remember their younger days.
And the band said “Let's do that.”
Thankfully, they are really fucking good at it. I usually take notes on an album before I review it, but I had trouble with Ladylike. I couldn't achieve the detachment needed for note-taking. This album is for immersion.
Sometime around 1992, I was hanging out with a buddy of mine. The worst of the summer, between seventh and eighth grade. He turned on his radio, and we listened to KDKB's classic rock for hours. I don't remember which DJ was on, or even what songs we heard, but I do remember the sense of comfort that came with that music.
Ladylike's debut album is a clinic on creating such comfort. The comfort of listening to some great music and reveling in doing not a damn thing else.
Ladylike creates flashback sequences. The songs on their self-titled album could soundtrack any number of “looking back on the good old days” sitcoms. The Wonder Years, maybe, or Freaks and Geeks. The common thread being a past that is comforting in retrospect.
