Rogue Wave
Record review
Reviewed by Melanie Haupt, Fri., March 3, 2006
Rogue Wave
Descended Like Vultures (Sub Pop)
Perhaps it's not very rock & roll or indie to describe Rogue Wave's sophomore album thusly, but Descended Like Vultures flies like it's swathed in cotton candy and chenille. It's layer after plush layer of lovely originals that reveal the Bay area group's singer/bellwether Zach Rogue and his love affair with aural textures. Vultures opens with "Bird on a Wire," a slow, buttery waltz cut in by jarring blurts of guitar buzzes. The effect is surprising: rather than alienating, the bursts underscore the delicate melodies swaddling them. Follow-up "Publish My Love" is deeply layered with nuances easily missed without the aid of headphones, wherein new sonic details unfold with each listen. "10:1" is a compact, muscular race down a steep slope; Rogue catches big air, singing through a megaphone while Wurlitzer and Hammond organs pepper the airwaves with a heart-racing staccato duel. With its 2003 Sub Pop debut, Out of the Shadow, Rogue Wave came off as a pretender to the Shins' indie-pop throne. Now, all sense of imitation is gone, and Rogue Wave has reinvented itself with soft-edged, yet masculine, music that's far from fluffy. (Friday, March 17, 1am @ Red Eyed Fly)