Rogue Wave - Out Of The Shadow

By all reasonable accounts, I shouldn’t know about this band. You see, a lot of my music is found through other sites, such as Pitchfork and Coke Machine Glow and while I don’t agree with their opinions a good deal of the time, they save me sorting through a heap of mediocre music. But anyway, I was reading a review for some band (not only is their identity irrelevant but I’ve forgotten it) and an off-hand mention was made of Rogue Wave’s ‘Out of the Shadows’. Was I interested in the reviewed band anymore? Clearly not. My rationale was that if they were worthy of a mention, I should know about them. Well thankfully it paid it off cause this is an album I thoroughly enjoy. It is simply well-crafted, pleasant music that often reminds me of The Shin’s ‘Chutes Too Narrow’…..wink, wink. I say this because it is not only similarly lacking in loud distorted guitars but also because the vocals are just…….good. Like the singer was actually born to sing (contrary to my previously expressed opinion, a good voice DOES help). It is generally a slow and soft and album meaning these vocals get put under the spotlight quite a bit. Thankfully they come up trumps and the album emerges as an intimate listening experience. So as you can see, I am extremely lucky to know this wonderful album and it just goes to show that you must remain vigilant on your hunt for great new (or in this case slightly old) music.

Be Kind + Remind – For those that follow the site, this is the ‘slow’ song I had been promising. If this doesn’t put your baby to sleep, I don’t know what will. It almost makes me want to give up my daily activities in the pursuit of world peace

Every Moment – It just so happened that I got into Napoleon Dynamite, in which this song is used (according to the soundtrack), at the exact same time as I did Rogue Wave. And both through completely unrelated means. Divine intervention no doubt.