RW release their first album since the premiere of their documentary following drummer Pat Spurgeon's battle with his kidneys. Not only that, but leader Zach also laid in bed rest with a neck injury for the past year, and don't forget the death of their bass player, Evan.Well, Zach must have found Jesus or something, because he is as bright and cheery as Annie after her sugar daddy let her "girlfriends" join in the fun. Granted, seeing the positivity in Pat's struggle from his documentary, it would be hard not to be inspired and believe that all adversity can be overcome.
So these songs live between something that Ben Gibbard might collaborate on with Paul McCartney-- to the other extreme of sounding like a simple Owl City auto-tuned basement-made rip-off.
"Sleepwalker" employs a tremendous chorus harmony. And songs like "Solitary Gun" and "Right With You" benefit from having an upbeat live drummer behind him. "We Will Make A Song Destroy" could have been only slightly retuned and become the most commercial record that Radiohead ever made. So there's potential there, but it's evened out by the icky-childishness of the title track, for example.
And why does "You Have Boarded" abandon its power-beat and trade it for a lilting chorus instead a crossover high-harmony indie rock tune? Maybe it's me, but why does Rogue Wave keep bottling up the potential they have to set themselves apart with the components that they already have? (2.5 of 5 stars)
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