Baby Eagle ::: photo courtesy of Davida Nemeroff

Some of you may be aware of how I feel about the Constantines.

For those of you who aren’t, well — the word “obsessed” has been bandied about. I personally prefer “adoring,” but there’s no need to get tied up in semantics; suffice it to say that they’re the band that means more to me than any other in the universe, and I couldn’t possibly love them more. Two months ago, they announced an indefinite hiatus.

Considering all this, it makes sense that I would approach Baby Eagle, the other project of the Cons’ Steve Lambke, with wariness and maybe a touch of resentment. How dare it divert his attention from my one true beloved? How dare he allow his priorities to fall so shockingly out of order? But a funny thing happened on the way to the record-burning: Baby Eagle snuck its fuzzy little wings under my defenses and won my bitter, jealous heart.

Baby Eagle, which is basically Lambke with a rotating background cast, plays laid-back, companionable country rock’n'roll. Drums shuffle along amiably behind the hound bays of electric guitars. Melodies are clear and major-keyed, but their execution is perfectly rough around the edges; like a plucked string, the instruments sway to either side of the rhythm but always end up back in the middle. Emotions are earnest, but nothing feels urgent. It’s a nice balance.

Dog Weather would be nothing, though, without Lambke’s signature rasp. Rather than sounding cranky and cantankerous, his gravelly sing-talking is somehow soothing, pleasantly scratchy like your favorite sweater. And though Lambke didn’t handle lead vocal duties in the Constantines, he did sing several of their songs, so I guess there’s something there for me too — a sense of familiarity. Lambke’s voice holds good associations, pleasant memories. In a way, it feels like home.

I was heartbroken when the Cons announced their hiatus, and I’m still in mourning. But every grieving process involves healing, and Baby Eagle is helping that. There’s a little bit of the Constantines in Lambke, and a lot of the future; Baby Eagle flies ahead of me to show me the way.
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Baby Eagle’s most recent album, Dog Weather, is available in record stores or at GalleryAC.com.
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