Longwave is not a ‘diet Stroke’

They are four scruffy boys, but their sound is not completely garage-rock driven. New York-based Longwave has toured with The Strokes so the comparison would be easy, however it doesn’t quite fit them.

“The Strangest Things” has a rough around the edges appeal that is irresistible. Haunting and melancholy, certain songs sound more like Coldplay than any posh New York band.

“Everywhere you turn” and “Pool song” are upbeat but singer Steve Schiltz’s voice never lets a song become poppy. Schiltz’s vocals are strange in a good way. He has an almost undetectable lisp at times and stretches certain words out in the most interesting way.

Certain artistic statements that Longwave tries to make fall flat. Opening their CD with a 1:19 minute introduction seems more pretentious than artistic, especially considering that it is the longest introduction on the entire album. Track 5, “Meet me at the Bottom” is almost as obnoxious. It begins with a lone noise that drove me mad, and continues with Schiltz mumbling some words with no music for another minute.

“Tidal Wave” makes up for these slight setbacks. It is one of the best songs on the album, and has a great repetitive chorus. Schiltz’s voice, which stretches to some beautiful high notes, accompanied with an interesting high-pitched bass creates a great sound.

Another song that I was particularly struck with was “All Sewn Up.” It opens with the line, “when I’m all sewn up / I feel like giving up,” which was the first time one of their lyrics interested me.

Longwave is still young, only having released two CDs, and they have time to work out some of the kinks in their music. “The Strangest Things” is a good CD, but it would be better if they didn’t try so hard to be innovative with odd sound affects and distorted instruments that don’t fit with their sound.

Rating: 3 stars