There’s something about great music that you just can’t place your finger on. You can’t point out that one guitar riff, or that drum beat, or the singers word choice. Great music is when every piece to the puzzle comes together perfectly in some magically rare anomaly, and everything makes sense. That one guitar riff, and that drum beat, and the singers words all fit in place, and they combine to create one unifying sound. That being said, Rogue Wave’s new album Descended Like Vultures isn’t great music. But I can’t seem to understand why.
Rogue Wave have all the characteristics of a great indie band. A talented singer/songwriter with the last name Rogue, a strong group of back up musicians with wide instrumentation, and their signed to Sub Pop. I mean, for god’s sake, all they need is some hip haircuts and they’d be the next big thing. But something’s missing in Rogue Wave. The talent is there, the execution is there, but they lack the energy and intensity to make these songs truly great. The thing about Descended Like Vultures , is that its just plain boring.
The songs on Descended Like Vultures are a mix of indie guitar rock and neo-folk, plainly sung by Zach Rogue. His voice is able and inoffensive, much like that of Chris Martin of Coldplay. The band itself is talented, putting out well structured and musically competent background to his lyrics. The best example of the band’s strength is “Love’s lost Guarantee”; a sea of guitar and keyboard parts blend melodically as the song rises and falls along the crest of Rogue’s tamed vocals. The song has all the ingredients to be a masterpiece, the likes of Wolf Parade’s “I’ll Believe in Anything”, but ultimately, the band lacks the intensity of their label-mates and the song leaves you feeling empty. The following track, “10:1", also falls flat. It starts of promising with a bouncy keyboard line, but by the middle of the song Rogue’s muffled voice is barely keeping you awake.
Every time I listen to this album, I find myself trying to like it. The songs are so strong in structure and execution, I want to enjoy them, I really do. But Rogue Wave just haven’t produced a great album. And just like its impossible to place a finger on what great music is, I can’t place a finger on why Descended Like Vultures isn’t a great album. |