:: Track Listing

1. Harmonium
2. Like I Needed
3. Chicago x 12 [Stream]
4. Lake Michigan [Stream] [Video]
5. Lullaby
6. Christians In Black
7. Own Your Own Home
8. Ghost
9. Missed
10. Fantasies
11. Phonytown
12. Cheaper Than Therapy

:: Record Review

Rogue Wave

Asleep At Heaven's Gates
(Brushfire; 2007)

Rating: 70%
Combined Rating: 70%


I've gone on record as hating introductory tracks on albums of pretty much any designation. I do not, of course, have anything against the respective arts of sequencing or pacing. They are vital to the compilation of any worthwhile collection of songs. I understand as well that artists will at times want to ease into an album, although I myself am a proponent of the hit-'em-in-the-mouth opening. I've implored those making this particular pacing choice, however, to actually write a song that achieves this end, instead of somnambulating through the equivalent of a live show warm up.

"Harmonium," track one off of Rogue Wave's new album Asleep at Heaven's Gate, is a cut truly deserving of the term "opening song," and not the mush-mouthed equivocation of "intro" or "album opener." "Harmonium" is not the most ambitious track on the band's first Brushfire release, but its patchwork arrangement is an effective primer to the uninitiated, an accessible exhibition of the band's buttoned down eclecticism. When the third movement, a charging sing-along chorus, kicks in at the end of the fourth minute you're not only glad that Rogue Wave are still playing, you're kinda pumped to hear the rest of the record, which is nice, because "Like I Needed" is fit to sustain this mild anticipatory tingling. The melody here and others on the record are, at times, reminiscent of the feather-light innovations of the Shins; I intend this as high praise, haters be damned. Next comes "Chicago X 12" which opens with a faint steel drum, grows steadily into its sweet and plaintive melody, and is fully two minutes too long.

And here at last we have reached the first of Asleep at Heaven's Gate's dual Achilles heels, though neither is a fatal liability. The record's too damn long. However, there are two main ways a record can be too long, and this record fits into the better of the two categories. That is to say, intra-song filler is far less offensive than intra-album filler. And that in turn is to say, there's probably only one song here -- the Califone-biting "Missed" -- that just shouldn't be. The worn welcome here is a function of the fact that there are six songs that top the five minute mark on this record, and only one of them really succeeds in filling the allotted track (the aforementioned "Harmonium").

The aggregate effects of a superfluous tail-end guitar solo here, one more identical refrain there, make this a slightly (though very slightly) laborious full-album spin. While these songs are uniformly pleasing, it's hard to get a whole lot of emotional traction here. They sound neat, they hit pleasure centers, they're fun to bob your head to. These are not ponderous texts that you will feel the need to brood over or contemplate deeply. This music is not vacuous, but neither is it profound, and four-or-so minutes deep many of these longer tracks will induce some mental thumb-twiddling.

If each of these songs were three-and-a-half minutes, that score up there might swell by about 5% and I might be rolling out the plaid carpet to herald the appearance of the newest radio-friendly indie princes. Instead it's the songs that are swollen, and Rogue Wave will likely remain a moderately successful act whose new album is slept on because its floral solidity isn't enough to hold up the heft of its length. Which brings us to our second issue:

There are a lot of elements to any given Rogue Wave song, which is a good thing. And Zach Rogue's voice has a pacific influence in hectic song spaces, which should also be good, and sort of is, but it's also problematic, since it has a way of neutralizing his lyrics. The songs on Asleep at Heaven's Gate aren't all about the same thing, but they might as well be. I've listened to this record half-a-dozen times in the last 24 hours and I still couldn't tell you what most of these songs are about. This is not an indictment of Rogue's lyrics. I'm sure they're very nice. I just can't tell you what the fuck they're about, or even quote you a line.

It's almost like the varied elements of Rogue Wave coalesce too well, become just a tad amorphous. The facets that don't snag and take hold in the memory aren't downplayed or inscrutable or detracting, they're just nonessential. Paradoxical claims like this usually elicit scorn from faithful fans, so, yes, I'm a dick. But look at it this way: I'll probably continue to listen to this record after I'm done reviewing it. I'll probably look forward to the band's next release. I may even allow myself to be counted among the band's supporters. But even then, after all my time and emotion are invested, I still won't know what Zach Rogue is singing about and I still won't give a shit.

I will, however, still wish that I had his name. Eric Sams :: 24 September 2007 |