Rogue Wave - Lake Michigan
Rogue Wave may boast the sort of clean cut, man at Gap appearance favoured by many All- American boys. They may also have been blessed with the sort of names you would associate with “guys” (Zac, Patrick, Gram and Dom) who appear in bands such as Matchbox 20 and Maroon 5 (I don’t know if this is a fact and frankly I don’t care, but you should get what I mean), but this track demonstrates a greater degree of subtlety, mesmeric beauty and melodic charm than either of the two aforementioned bands have managed in their combined careers thus far.
‘Lake Michigan’ is a dreamy, wistful and (whisper it) slightly trippy track which contains some shimmering, chiming guitar lines, gloriously joyous handclaps and some lovely harmonic interludes. Beginning slowly with an understated percussive intro, the track builds around the glistening guitar lines before introducing some alluringly garbled lyrics, all of which are uttered in a fantastically nonsensical manner. The Flaming Lips-esque vibe found on this single is one which would endear the band to many people; such is the track’s laid-back melodic shtick. It will be interesting to see where Rogue Wave will go from here, but this is both a positive statement and an endearing summery track.