Vancouver’s Ladyhawk have returned with their first new album in four years, and from the sound of “You Read My Mind,” the first track from their comeback, No Can Do (10/9 on Triple Crown), it appears the Vancouver longhairs spent some of that time off fine-tuning their hybrid, grunge and roots rock style, shelving many of the more obtuse ideas which plagued their later releases.  The opening guitar riff, down-tuned for maximum rumble like early grunge,  is certainly a positive sign of the boys being back in business, as is the way they clean up from the muck, moving to a more streamlined, pop structure with sharper and cleaner guitar tones played in higher octaves.  The formula is so effective at building up to the chorus,  lead vocalist Duffy Dreideger can get away with repeating and stretching out the phrase “That’s alright.”  Besides, what more can you ask for from a bunch of longhairs?  They party, play guitar, charm, and say things like “man” and “alright.”  It’s what they do best on record, on stage, and in general, really.

H/T The Fader