Interview by Vivian Hua
Tagged 2005 alternative rock indie rock rock rogue wave sub pop bands
In 2004, Sub Pop re-released
Out of the Shadows, Rogue Wave's first full-length album. With mostly positive responses from independent media outlets and listeners, it seemed like the indie world had struck gold with Rogue Wave. But everyone has heard of bands releasing good albums and then falling short for their next attempts. So the question at hand was: could it last?
Rogue Wave had originally been the solo project of founder, vocalist, and guitarist Zach Rogue, but expanded into a collaborative project after the release of Out of the Shadows. Now, a year and a half later, the band has come back with their second attempt,
Descended Like Vultures. Changes between the two albums aren't extremely noticeable from a surface level, but internally, the differences are huge. After the first album, Rogue decided it was time to collaborate with a band, and posted a listing on Craig's List that called for band members. This resulted in the permanent band lineup as it is today, with Rogue leading the pack, Pat Spurgeon playing drums and keyboards, Evan Farrell playing bass, and Gram LeBron playing guitars and keyboards.
Descended Like Vultures is the first full-length album Rogue Wave has released together as a band, and Rogue acknowledges the difference. In their press release, Rogue says, "I feel like Descended Like Vultures is actually the beginning – this is where we really start."
But even with the difference in band members, Gram LeBron believes that fans of Rogue Wave will not be disappointed by the effort. "Zach's voice is so distinctive [that there is not a huge amount of difference]. It doesn't sound like the first record, but I don't think you wouldn't like the second record if you liked the first one, cause it's not that different."
The name of the album reflects the band's creative and confident response to all of the critics who had hypothesized that the band would fall victim to the well-known "sophomore slump" and produce an album that was not up to par with their first.
"The idea behind the name of the record is the idea that when you make one good record and people are all into it, they are waiting to tear you apart for the next record," says LeBron, who pointed out that they are not the only band who has ever responded with such a tactic. "De La Soul's second record was called De La Soul Is Dead, because they knew that people were going to say their second record wasn't as good as their first. They thought that they would go ahead and say that they were dead. People didn't dislike their second record, but I don't think that's happening with us."
For
Descended Like Vultures, Rogue Wave spent ten days recording at Supernatural Sound in Oregon with producer Bill Racine, who also produced
Out of the Shadows. For Rogue Wave, outside expectations never placed too much of an impact on their actions or philosophies. "I think there were more expectations that we had given ourselves [than those that outside sources had given us]," LeBron said. "We wanted to make a really good record, because we hadn't gotten a chance to do it together… I didn't feel like we were trying to do anything for anybody."
The response for
Descended Like Vultures has been just about divided in half, with Rogue Wave receiving just about as much staunch criticism as they have abounding praise. While they have their fanbase as well as first-time listeners who are convinced that Rogue Wave is the best find of the year, there is probably an equal amount of reviewers who love to point out their opinion that the second album is just not as good as the first.
But what music reviewers really like to bring up is the
O.C. It seems like these days, every publication – including us – has snuck in at least one or two mentions of indie rock and its recent popularization in car commercials and teen melodramas like
the O.C. On the internet, Rogue Wave seems to be a very favorable indie rock band to throw into this slot. The funny part, though, is that the band itself has never even discussed the possibility, and could care less about the stigma related to being on this show. In fact, they seem to welcome the idea. "We haven't thought about it… [but the folks at
the O.C.] pick a lot of great music and great people to go on that show, so it'd be great to be involved in it."
With a band like Rogue Wave – that receives as much love as hate from listeners – it seems especially necessary for those who are curious to listen to the music for themselves to see if it's suitable to their tastes. Listening to unclear and varied reviewers will only bring further ambiguity. At worst, indie rockers will find a couple of worthwhile songs to add to their playlists; at best, they'll find a new band to love.
what do you think?
