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October 14, 2024


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Falconhawk
Hotmouth (Saved By The Radio)

By: Cam Lindsay

Calgary is the new hotbed in Canada and Falconhawk is one of the main reasons why. Opting to vote guitars off the island, because hey, who needs them, the trio instead relies on synths, bass and drums to give life to their art. Led by the irrepressible Kara Keith, Falconhawk isn't another synth-pop band that relies on cuteness or gimmicks to push a product. Hotmouth is an earnest debut album based around Keith's ideas she had for a solo album. Unafraid to speak her mind about everything, her lyrics are frank, unapologetic and persuasive, matching her smouldering voice that is equal parts Debbie Harry and Kim Deal. "I Don't Know How To Fix The Damn Thing Blues" isn't an original (it's actually a cover of the legendary Stompin' Tom Connors tune), but the way the trio adopts it with their Casio-tinges, you wouldn't realize it was, in fact, a country song. The single, "Olympia", is all sweetness and light, secreting a dizzying riff (that I honestly believe is a guitar--cheaters!) with a charming holler of "Dancehall, dancehall!", while the closer, "That's Just Wonderful Of You" profits from a flared ragtime piano bit that Ben Folds wishes he had composed. Hotmouth is a record full of confidence, melodic precedence and the true DIY spirit.
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