New Rogue Wave: "Lake Michigan"

Photo by Fenchurch!

Rogue Wave’s debut album, the gloriously eccentric Out of the Shadow, remains one of my favorite discs of 2004 – and a better album than anything former tour partners the Shins have done since the Oh, Inverted World days. While follow-up Descended Like Vultures had some great moments, the production was just too stuffy; the presence of a full band had somehow suffocated some the creativity that Zach Rogue seemed to be overflowing with when he recorded the first record – a mostly solo project. But “Lake Michigan” recaptures some of the weirdness and melodic heft of the old stuff – I just wish the label had seen fit to release the MP3 at at higher bit rate than 96kpbs. Sounds good, though. This band may have another classic in them yet.

Rogue Wave – “Lake Michigan”: mp3

(Asleep at Heaven’s Gate is due Sept. 18 on Brushfire Records)

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