When the Flatirons first appeared in Portland’s club scene about three years ago, they sounded like nothing more than a promising bunch of youngsters with country leanings and a mild pop sensibility. With charming frontwoman Wendy Pate flanked by guitarists Scott Weddle and Jason Okamoto, and with a rotating cast of rhythmic accompanists, they had all the markings of an exceptionally smart bar band.
But the Flatirons obviously had something sturdier in mind. They developed a batch of originals, went into the studio and emerged with Prayer Bones, a highly nuanced set of tunes that unpeels around a charismatic, coloristic voice. A remarkable singer with a rare gift for subtlety, Pate moves gracefully between galloping rock tracks such as “Heaven Help You” and aching ballads such as “By Yourself”. She recalls such vaunted peers as Margo Timmins and Gillian Welch — though she’s not quite as distinctive yet — while belting out rootsy ramblers such as “High Lonesome Moon” and “Three Crosses”.
Weddle and Okamoto deserve a healthy amount of credit for the surprising accomplishment here, as the two play most of the string instruments, floating a nifty pedal steel run in “Hearts on Fire” and peppering the entire record with crisply executed rhythm and lead guitar. They also wrote a handful of the songs individually. The sole anomaly on Prayer Bones is a cover of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train”, a twanged-up staple of the Flatirons’ live set that detracts from an otherwise inspiringly played and exceptionally produced debut.