Lindsay Hail

Album: Into My Soul (2008)

Artist: Lindsay Hail

Label: self-released

Where available/price: Cow Records in Ocean Beach and Music Trader in Point Loma and Pacific Beach for $9.99. CDBaby.com for $12.97; iTunes and Digstation.com for $9.99 or 99 cents per song.

Songs: 1) Hibernate 2) Still 3) Turned Away 4) Walls 5) Heal Me 6) Riptide 7) Skyfallen 8) Into You 9) Black Rose 10) The True Story

Band: Lindsay Hail (vocals, piano), Jeff Lizerbram (keys, guitar, strings), Frank Mercurio (bass)

Website: myspace.com/lindsayhail

Goth music is an acquired taste, and I’m not averse to it. As a child of divorce, schmaltzy songs about loss, love, pain, and drowning strike my soul. Lindsay Hail hits most of those themes and with all of the sentimentality. Evanescence obviously inspired Lindsay to write and sing; unfortunately, Lindsay has none of the professional goth rocker’s chops.

The music in Lindsay’s songs takes a backseat to her vocals; she features herself. The band is competent, cohesive, and tight, but Lindsay’s voice can’t keep up. She reaches for the high notes only to push them further away — like an article on a high shelf that’s barely within fingertip range. Through most of her songs, Lindsay’s band plays at a pokey pace, and her voice languishes instead of racing ahead with passion.

Lindsay isn’t bad — she’s good enough to open for a visiting band at the House of Blues. Unless she gets out of second gear, she’s always going to open for someone else.