Category:
Rock

Try if you like:
Elastica, Shudder To Think

Every once and a while I'll throw an album in for review that I have no clue about. Awake And Alert's Devil In A Lambskin Suit falls into this category. I was expecting something more of a folk or country sound with the lovely painted cover with what looks like Native Americans on horses in the distant. Instead I got a moody pop album feature the great female vocals by Maya Peart. 

The first song, "Flight" doesn't really give you a good idea on the album's overall feel. The second track, the title track is much better at getting this point across. It is an upbeat and quite rowdy song showing some pretty dexterous musicianship. Then they add some rock out on "Vows" a song that has a bit of a 'Bullet the blue sky' feel, and on that epic scale as well. "Read Or Not" is just a good pop song with the guitars dropping out in the beginning focusing on Peart's wonderful vocals. On "Pretty Thieves" we get a fantastic build up to quite an upbeat rocker. "Hollow Bodies" is a little lower key but a nice change. I felt that "Endless Blur of Wonder" had a bit of a 90s indie rock feel to it.

Awake And Alert should appeal to anyone who likes female fronted rock bands. And for those of you who shy away from woman rock there just might be enough here for you to latch onto. The best thing about Awake and Alert is that they sound different. Maya has a great voice and the band has the dexterity to back up this moody and diverse singer.