Rogue Wave - Out of the Shadow
In “Out of the Shadow”, Zach Rogue (formerly Zach Schwartz) and company have created one of the best indie albums I have heard in recent memory. Rogue (guitar, vocals) – together with Pat Spurgeon (drums, samples), Sonya Westcott (bass), and Gram LeBron (guitar, synthesizer) – masterminds Rogue Wave, a band that falls somewhere between Death Cab for Cutie (without the despondency), Elliott Smith (particularly in Figure 8), Simon & Garfunkel, and the Shins. This resolutely indie album is peppered with folk, electronica, rock, and pop to create an eclectic oeuvre. Much like the Shins, expect Rogue Wave to quickly emerge as one of the definitive ambassadors of their genre.
Rogue Wave started out as a singer/songwriter endeavor. Zach Schwartz lost his job and decided to focus his attention more on music. He played Bay area coffee shops and opened for other acts, but in playing solo, he was unable to produce the full, layered sound that he desired. Schwartz moved to New York, changed his last name to Rogue, and sought out a new band. Through an online classifieds site, Rogue rounded up his current band-mates and began recording. Out of the Shadow is their first album. It was initially released independently, but after Rogue Wave played a show in San Francisco, Sup Pop surprised them with an offer. They signed with the label, and the album was re-released in July of 2004.
Out of the Shadow comes flying out of the gate with “Every Moment” – an exhilarating song that displays the completeness of the band’s abundant talent. Overflowing with pulsating drums, undulating guitar leads, and crooning vocals reminiscent of James Mercer, the song gripped me with an unwavering hold that kept me engaged through the duration of the album. I found myself inexplicably fixed on replicating the intoxicating rhythm with my hands playing anything that I could turn into a drum. In fact, despite the excellence of the other elements within the song, the percussion drives most of my favorite parts. Soon after the beginning, the drumming erupts into a rolling, tribal-sounding beat, followed by the supplement of cymbals springing out of the song like a display of fountains out of the ground. Just before the two-minute mark, the cymbals gain momentum like a gathering wave before fading out into the end of the song.
While “Every Moment” demonstrates Rogue Wave’s completeness as a band, many other songs hint at Zach Rogue’s singer/songwriter past, as well as his role of band leader and primary songwriter. One of my favorites is “Be Kind & Remind,” a sentimental and tranquil descendent of Simon & Garfunkel. Driven solely by idyllic vocal harmonies and graceful acoustic guitar, I can almost imagine Rogue playing for transfixed listeners in an open field, surrounded by… hmm… well… what are those? “Be Kind & Remind” is infused with some sort of electronic bird noises, and, while I am not exactly sure what they are supposed to be, they fit into the flow of the song, and, I must admit, make it even
better.
While I did thoroughly enjoy Zach’s solo songs, my favorite song on the album was another one that utilized the band’s potential more completely. Songs like “Kicking the Heart Out” made me appreciate Zach’s vision of musical depth that compelled him to seek out a band. While the album displays musical diversity throughout, Rogue Wave always comes back to indie. “Kicking the Heart Out” serves as the core of the album’s indie pop/rock personality. Much like “Every Moment” sucked me in with surging drums, “Kicking the Heart Out” is supported by constant, compelling, cadenced guitar. The steady, guttural bass-line bored into my mind within the first 10 seconds, literally transfixing me every time I listened to the song (which by now has probably been five or six times). High, pretty vocals contrast with the resonant acoustic guitar, while handclaps tied the two together to form a deliciously unique sound. “Kicking the Heart Out” serves as the defining song on a defining album by a group that will soon be considered as definitive indie.
