Rogue Wave preview

Rogue Wave
Double Door, Chicago
Wednesday, October 24, 2007

It isn’t hard to tell why Rogue Wave’s atmospheric pop often finds a home in the background of Hollywood movies and on prime-time television. Frontman Zach Rogue’s soothing vocals inject scenes with mood and weight without ever pushing actors from the forefront. That’s not to say the band’s place is always in the background.

With the release of their third studio album, Asleep At Heaven’s Gate (Brushfire), Rogue, along with drummer Pat Spurgeon, keyboardist Gram Lebron, and recent addition, bassist Patrick Abernethy, has succeeded in sounding more British than ever. Belying their Oakland, California roots, the band retains a new wave of new wave sensibility, but with the maturity to know listeners need something deeper. And since their last effort hit the shelves in 2005, the members’ lives turned topsy-turvy enough to warrant treading a new, more defined path. Ranging from life-threatening to joyous, it’s been a wild ride for the boys: Spurgeon underwent a kidney transplant, Rogue welcomed a daughter to the fold, and Lebron’s father passed away.

The disc’s final and best track, “Cheaper Than Therapy,” is pregnant with understated, life-affirming beauty – the kind that can either serve as a sleep aid, like the gentle lulling of the ocean, or as a centering car ride before a potentially miserable day at work. Well, the day still may end up a miserable one, but at least the record will be waiting at 5 p.m.

Port O’Brien opens.

– Janine Schaults

Click here to download Rogue Wave’s “Sightlines.”

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly