As seasons change it seems that, for many of us, our musical selections evolve with the weather. With the sun beginning to shine more frequently around Minneapolis, I find myself embracing a more upbeat vibe when it comes to the artists I'm playing . One band in particular has been a symbol of progress in both the climate and my mood: Rogue Wave.
The Oakland indie rock band is best known for its song 'Lake Michigan', which appears in the colorful Zune commercial below:
Yet, just like the recent breakout of Feist in the iPod commerical (Mad TV Parody), this band's rise to popularity shouldn't only be attributed to a TV ad. Further investigation would tell you that Rogue Wave has talent far
exceeding commercial appeal. Their sound is a light & refreshing one infused with well-placed drum beats & Weezer-esque guitar licks. In fact, the best comparison I can offer is Weezer crossed with the Shins (See Rogue Wave song: Bird on a Wire) and Simon & Garfunkel (See Rogue Wave song: The Falcon Settles Me).However, it's not surprising that such a style would attract media interest and generate widespread appeal. The song, "Eyes" was featured in an episode of Heroes and the band has also contributed to the "Just Friends" and "Spiderman 3" soundtracks. Their current album, 'Asleep at Heaven's Gate' is available for download on iTunes and locally on CD/Vinyl at the Electric Fetus, where you can preview the tracks and purchase other Rogue Wave releases.
Rogue Wave was set to perform live Monday, April 7th at the Fineline Music Cafe. However, the date was recently canceled and removed from the band's website. An Internet rumor sites a forgotten wedding as the cause for the cancellation. Let's hope the band makes it up to their fans soon!
2 comments:
I have to say that for my musical tastes that many of the commercials that seem to try and pick the next big indie hit for their commercial miss. The newest I've seen is for the iPod touch. The song sucks and it's actually the first time I've seen a bad ad for an Apple product in recent times.
Apple has definitely made it trendy to use catchy indie songs as their hook for new products. Can't say that it doesn't work though. The fact that you can reference the commercial shows that it caught your attention...exactly what was intended. Rogue Wave was making it before 'Lake Michigan' appeared in the Zune ad and Feist was getting pretty popular before the iPod commercial. Sometimes these companies just jump the gun on a song or exhaust the same concept over and over; which is what Apple seems have to done with the iPod touch spot.
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