Rogue Wave - Out of the Shadow
(Subpop)
It is nowhere near as drastic as the early 90's, but the music world was sort of turned on its head in the early 00's by bands returning to classic, straight ahead guitar pop. The Shins have been placed at the fore, but bands like Grandaddy and even Death Cab for Cutie are contributing plenty. Be it conscious or not, there are traces of both The Shins and Grandaddy in the underpinnings of Rogue Wave's debut album, Out of the Shadow. Or maybe they're all tapping into the same veins and The Shins just beat Rogue Wave to the punch.
In any case, Out of Shadow was rescued from private press obscurity by Sub Pop for good reason. The songs are good, catchy and well textured. It's easy to point to other bands while listening to "Seasick on Land," "Kicking the Heart Out" (The Shins) or "Endless Shovel" (Grandaddy), but it doesn't feel like shameless plagiarism. It's fresh and exciting. Sure Nirvana's Bleach owes a lot to The Melvins, but that doesn't make Bleach any less good. Same goes for Rogue Wave. The songs transcend the similarities to their contemporaries.
There's been enough press about this album that an in depth analysis is pretty unnecessary, but it's absolutely worth your time. "Every Moment," "Nourishment Nation," "Postage Stamp World," and "Sewn Up" are all pure Rogue Wave... and so, so good.
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