Lorraine Leckie

CHARISTICALLY INTENSE 

by New York Music Daily 

"Leckie was backed by her band the Demons. She’s got a new album with Anthony Haden-Guest due out this year (his lyrics, her music) – if the set’s creepy, hypnotic opening number, seemingly told from the point of view of a serial killer, is any indication, it’s going to be characteristically intense. 

She played that one solo. 

The band then joined her for a too-brief run through the northern gothic anthem Ontario and a little later a suspensefully lurid version of the even more gothic, metaphorically-fueled Four Cold Angels. 

Despite the chill of the evening, Leckie threw off her leather jacket, moved to the piano and then led the band into an epic version of a newer tune that lead guitarist Hugh Pool brought down to long, mournful washes of sound before attacking the fretboard with a scorching, anguished, unhinged noise-blues assault straight out of the Dream Syndicate school of guitar-torture. 

As a sendoff for the store, it made a good funeral pyre. 

Leckie closed with a hushed version of William, dedicated to her husband, a sad but hopeful Patti Smith-ish narrative about two fuckups trying to pull their lives together. 

How much actual autobiography is actually in that song, we’ll never know." 

-Delarue, March 11, 2012 

New York Music Daily 
http://newyorkmusicdaily.wordpress.com/2012/03/11/billys/

BLACKBOOK MAGAZINE - "DIRTY OLD TOWN" STEVE LEWIS 

"[Lorraine Leckie] steals the show... [she] sings the folksy songs that tell the tale[s of the Lower East Side]." 

THE VILLAGER (JUNE 2009) - "SEEN AROUND THE DOWNTOWN ARTS SCENE" 

by CLAYTON PATTERSON

SADIE MAGAZINE (2009) - "LORRAINE LECKIE : AN ANGEL WHO IS ANYTHING BUT COLD" 

by SARAH AMIEL 

"Singer/songwriter Lorraine Leckie grew up in Ontario where “she had horses.” When she got to her teenage years, she realized she had to get out because she was “the town weirdo” and felt claustrophobic, so she moved to Toronto where she married the lead singer of the Viletones, whom according to Lorraine, were the Canadian version of the Sex Pistols. Eventually, they divorced and at age twenty, she decided to go to makeup school and flee to Milan to become a makeup artist full-time. As a makeup artist, she worked with celebrities like Anna Nicole Smith, Paul McCartney, and Jennifer Lopez. 

When I meet her—and her massive Rottweiler, Kill Joy—at her home in Brooklyn, I am a little frightened. The cover of her third album, Four Cold Angels, pictures Lorraine in an electric chair surrounded by her bandmates, “Her Demons” who stare at the camera. (One sits on a motorcycle and holds a noose.) 

Because Leckie sings about blazing guns, prison, devils, and cocaine, I expected a female version of Marilyn Manson. Though she wears a black T-shirt with ripped jeans, and has perfectly creamy skin (basically flawless!) and long jet-black hair, her demeanor is cheerful instead of somber." 

BOOG CITY URBAN FOLK (ISSUE 55, 2009) 
"ANGELS & ALIENS: FOUR COLD ANGELS" 
by JONATHAN BERGER 

“...the nine tracks on Four Cold Angels show a variety of styles and atmospheres that generally present Leckie’s songs and voice in a damned good light... ‘You’re So Cool’ sounds like a ’60s sort of raver, ending with a fade-out followed by a fade-back- in, reflecting a party that has perhaps gone on just a little too long.” 

BEYOND RACE MAGAZINE 
by JAMES DEVINO 

"On her third full length, Leckie proves she is ready to take her unique brand of folk rock with a dark side beyond the clubs of downtown Manhattan. While part of Leckie's charm stems from her rough-around-the-edges image, 'Getaway Car,' the album's beautiful piano-driven opener, allows her vocals to shine with heartfelt emotion as her ability to create a vivid picture is on par with any Broadway show soundtrack. Leckie's tongue-in-cheek, lyrical honesty is comparable in sentiment to Kimya Dawson, yet she exudes a poetic style all her own. The album picks up about half way though with 'You're So Cool,' chock full of grrrl rock energy, followed by 'Drivin'' which best showcases Leckie's storytelling juxtaposed against Hugh Pool's guitar interplay, culminating with a breathtaking chorus. With a little help from Brian Jonestown Massacre frontman, Anton Newcombe, Four Cold Angels appropriately closes with a rendition of the Pogue's 'Dirty Old Town." 

THE TORONTO QUARTERLY CONCERT REVIEW (DECEMBER 2008) 
by DEANNA PRALL 

";... This inexplicable woman dressed in black with a definitive sparkle in her eye, and a skull laden guitar strap, sauntered onto the stage solo. Despite not having her full backup band from her album, ";Lorraine 
Leckie & Her Demons’, she performed most of the songs from the record, a blend of folk and alternative rock, with the help of her acoustic guitar, keyboards, harmonica and foot controlled tambourine. 

Her songs range from ballads to eccentric rock songs, which are hypnotic in many ways, her ability to lure her audience in with her witty yet powerful lyrics set the tone for the evening. With musical influences ranging from Neil Young, PJ Harvey, Patti Smith, The Sex Pistols, Janis Joplin, and Lucinda Williams, there is 
an eclectic mix of sound that Lorraine Leckie creates to make her own. 

Her voice comes across as being angelic in many ways, but her lyrics justify the energy she puts forth on stage, as she is a definite force to be reckoned with.” 

THE CELEBRITY CAFE 
JOHN BERKOWITZ 

"Lorraine Leckie & Her Demons - Four Cold Angels - Four Cold Angels is the new release from Lorraine Leckie and Her Demons. The fresh diversity ripens into a glorious set of tracks that doesn’t wander off on tangents as it still has the basics and then branches off. Lorraine sets her grasp on a myriad of styles with the tinkering humming of the harmonica for that soothing country song to the hard rock steady guitar and banging drums for that good old fashioned rock n roll. 

Some artists tend to create a series of songs that end up following the same formula resulting in a bland repetitive sound for an hour. Four Cold Angels starts slow and with a grand build and an introduction of variation that snowballs into a poignant sound coming full circle at its conclusion. 

There’s sort of a European punk rhythm ingrained in the vocals that really give it a bouncy feel. The lyrics are certainly intriguing and thought provoking right from the start as it doesn’t delve into the standard lovesick numbers. The opening song is about a getaway car after the convincing swaying of knocking a place off. 

Lorraine Leckie and Her Demons offer an offbeat take and a real curveball that whizzes by bringing a kooky smile to your face. Even the closing track has a hint of Irish sentiment. Four Cold Angels has chants and praises of obscurity, which is new to hear. For the most part, it has a prancing and giddy feel to it that may ease into a leisurely stroll during the slower tracks. Lorraine and the gang whip up a whopper of tracks that sparks the imagination." 

WLUR 91.5 FM 

“Good ol' no-nonsense folk rocker from this singer songwriter out of Ontario. Pretentiously claiming Baudelaire, Rimbaud, and Verlaine as interests, Leckie howls fragmented poetry... Start with 'Ontario' and 'You're So Cool.' ” 

ACOUSTICMUSIC.COM                                                                                                                         DAVID N. PYLES 

“With an invigorating vocal style crossing Grace Slick with the aforementioned Smith... Leckie is a trip on the Lower East Side and in the Brooklyn clubs.” 

VILLAGE VOICE 

“[She is] an Ontario folkie gal… naively likeable” 

AMPLIFIER MAGAZINE 

“She’s seductive, salacious, serendipitous, selective, surly, sure-footed, symbiotic, stark, strong, shambolic, squat, scandalous, satirical, salient, salubrious, sage-like, shiny… and Canadian.  Leckie’s tunes come highly recommended if you like: a female version of Neil Young, Shelby Lynne, Lucinda Williams, Ani DiFranco, Mary Lou Lord, and Michelle Shocked.  Choice cut: “Lady Hurricane,” which could be mistaken for Grace Slick & Crazy Horse." 

MUSIC DISH 

“The real deal.” 

UNDERGROUND BEAT ONLINE 

“This woman is a poet with a guitar and one that explores a darker side of humanity with traces of irony and sarcastic humor… a page out of the book of Lou Reed or Edgar Allen Poe.” 

CD BABY                                                                                                                                CONSCIENCE 

“Like sitting on grassy fields with Harold and Maude trippin’ on some serious shrooms… dark and deep lyrics… like taking a trip down memory lane… there’s hope for somethin’ in this world of ours.” 

CD BABY 
TIM KNAUT: 

“In the tradition of Country Joe’s darkest hour, and Robin Hitchcock’s glory.” 

BEYOND RACE MAGAZINE (2009)                                                                                                        "DIRTY OLD TOWN"                                                                                                                                    by CLAYTON PATTERSON

BEYOND RACE MAGAZINE (SEPTEMBER 2007) 
FLAVOR OF THE WEEK: "SHADOWS OF THE NIGHT"                                                                                     by DAVID TERRA 

"On a warm Monday night in late August, Lorraine Leckie and Her Demons played an early set to a packed room at the Mercury Lounge. While the majority of the audience has most likely been living in New York since the days of Ed Koch, the crowd's energy far surpassed that of the usual skinny-jean hipster gathering that the Mercury witnesses on most nights. Rocking with a Patti Smith-esque swagger, Leckie leads her group with a confident fearlessness of a woman in her forties who is happy with where she's at in life. Leckie is a dynamic frontwoman and her 'Demons' are agroup of talented musicians who bring to mind a New York makeover of Neil Young's style of country rock. 

Obviously familiar with a number of her loyal fans, Leckie entertained the crowd with comedic stage banter in between songs, often joking about how her demons and herself could use a drink. Leckie's lyrics are poetic and she sings them with conviction, resulting in honest, heartfelt songs that connect with her audience. Despite her poetic tendencies, this is undoubtedly rock music. Driven by some exceptional guitar playing by Hugh Pool, the tallest of the Demons, the group has managed to create a very unique sound. 

'Fearless,' a song about drinking Johnnie Walker and searching for where you want to be, best exemplifies Leckie's ability to blend her poetic lyrics with the Demons ability to turn out well crafted rock songs. The packed room of faithful Demons fans even earned them an encore song, a rare feat for a band playing the second slot on a Monday at Mercury. On her MySpace page, Leckie states that she looks forward to someday playing the Bowery Ballroom (the Mercury Lounge's big brother for all you non-New Yorkers). With crowd pleasing sets and loyal fans, that's an accomplishment that seems to be right around the corner. For more information on Lorraine Leckie and Her Demons, check out www.lorraineleckie.com."