- You might need to check twice to see if this is the same Jack Ladder you listened to. It is, but it doesn't sound like it. Gone is the country twang, or at least a goodly part of it In it's stead cold and gothic, mid-80s rock pulses sepulchrally and boy, what a fit it is for Ladder's sonorous baritone. Actually, country hints make their way back in here and there, later in the record. They provide a meltingly warm counterpoint to the gothic chill; it works very nicely. The comparisons to Nick Cave are obvious, but Ladder embraces more synthetic elements of goth rock than Cave and, I reckon, his voice might be a little deeper and sweeter than Cave's too. The Dreamlanders do a good job of sounding like the Bad Seeds, too, when they sing their thickly dark choruses. Y'know, I remember Kirin J Callinan of the Dreamlanders doing some pretty thumping goth of his own last year, he's obviously been giving Jack some lessons. The majority of these songs come in over 5 minutes, but this little collection of 80s gothic epics never overstay their welcome. Changing direction in rock'n'roll is always dangerous but Jack Ladder has executed this with impressive skill.