Rogue Wave - Descended Like Vultures

Historians, rock critics and sports announcers have all spent plenty of time waxing poetic about the sophomore slump, but don't waste any time pulling out that reference for 2005's Descended Like Vultures, Rogue Wave's second album for Sub Pop. While the album defied expectations as much as it defied the odds, singer/guitarist Zach Rogue knew the score: "That's the whole thing with the title," he admits. "It' like waiting for the other shoe to drop this perception that everyone around you is going to turn their back." Though Rogue assembled the Oakland, CA, quartet which included fellow multi-instrumentalists Pat Spurgeon (drums), Gram LeBron (guitar) and Evan Farrell (bass) in late 2002, Descended Like Vultures marked the first time the band's leader had ever made a record with a whole group in the studio. The band spent 10 days with Bill Racine (who also produced Out Of The Shadow with Rogue) at Supernatural Sound in Oregon City, OR, resulting in the creation of 11 tracks that journey through a dreamy landscape inspired by several decades of classic rock and pop (from Fleetwood Mac to Neil Young to My Bloody Valentine.) The Mark Kozelek-esque "California" and the XTC-flavored "Catform," both feature cold yet inspired examinations of human nature informed by Rogue's experiences on the road. For the first time as an entire unit, Rogue Wave went out of it's way to create a free-flowing album that includes equal amounts of tension, release and resolution. In the process they made a brilliantly layered, expertly crafted album that changes shape with repeated spins.