Longwave: The Strangest Things
Longwave – The Strangest Things
RCA Records
By Michael Lewis, newguy
The Strangest Things is an album by a band with no identity. Longwave switches between aping The Strokes (“Pool Song,” “Cant Feel A Thing”), and poorly, to copping bits of Britpop (everything else on the album). It’s as if a producer threw ingredients from every successful rock recipe of the last few years into a pot, stirred it once, and committed it to tape.
The resulting lack of consistency undermines the entire project, as Longwave shows they aren’t talented or versatile enough to pull off such a hodgepodge. They would benefit from figuring out what their best qualities are and sticking with those.
Having never heard the band’s other releases on independent labels, I can’t definitively say that the schizophrenia is the product of an overbearing label or a band with no power to make their own decisions, but I have to wonder whether The Strangest Things is marked by Longwave’s switch to behemoth RCA Records.
The album contains moments of goodness, most notably “Everywhere You Turn,” which recalls Joy Division and Bauhaus, but without their overblown emotion (a good thing here). Unfortunately, there aren’t any standouts either. Other than “Everywhere”, the closest is probably “All Sewn Up.” Everything else is haunted by a lyrical emptiness, making The Strangest Things feel like it just slides along safely until the last track: “Daysleeper.” It’s the best song on the album, but even at their finest, Longwave still lack any real punch. File this under forgettable. –(4/10)
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