Rebecca Ramone’s debut EP, The Flood, doesn’t start with a bang. Instead, the opening track features a repeating blues riff beneath Ramone’s delicate-yet-strong voice. The song shifts when the blues riff accelerates, hitting a grungy overdrive with thrashing symbols. From there, the album takes off with track two, “Back in My Bed,” which opens with the same brand of addictive opening guitar riffs that made The White Stripes famous. Then, a few seconds into the song, it hits you: this isn’t girl-power rock, or even just a model plastered in front of a rock band (sorry, Emily Haines) – it’s just rock. Dirty, bluesy rock.

But it doesn’t stay that way. “Worryin'” is a departure, but an album without departures is an album without risk. It’s a mix of pop, folk, and even has hints of jazz emanating from the drummer’s brushes. However, this is a nice platform for Ramone’s voice, as we get to hear her softer side against a soft background for a change. While it may not have started with a bang, the album goes out with one: “Like I Knew” returns to the blues rock feel that reigns supreme throughout The Flood, and it just might be the album’s best song. While it’s only a quick taste, it’s a promising start – after just 16 minutes it’s obvious that Ramone is on to something. In the immortal words of Bucky Haight: “The way you play … it’s yours. Keep it.”