Permalight

Rogue Wave | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: March 2, 2010
• Release Date: March 2, 2010
• Label: Brushfire Records/Universal
• Copyright: (C) 2009 Brushfire Records
• Record Company Required Metadata: Music file contains unique purchase identifier. Learn more.
• Total Length: 38:49
• Genres:
• ASIN: B0039A8R7Q
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,830 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rogue Wave - Permalight 8/10, March 2, 2010

By 

Rudolph Klapper "klap4music" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Permalight (Audio CD)

"Will you be the bed for me when they set the world on fire / just to see it burn?" frontman Zach Schwartz asks on "Solitary Gun," the opening song off Rogue Wave's deliciously bouncy new record Permalight. For a band that has been through some of the hells Rogue Wave have suffered over the past few years, including the death of a former bandmate and one member's struggle with kidney failure, "Solitary Gun" is an unexpected shot in the arm, a booster of unbridled joy and money hooks that belie the song's apocalyptic images. Indeed, "Solitary Gun" is a most unlikely anthem, one that sets the tone for the rest of Permalight as a bright, buoyant beacon of hope.

Viewed through the context of the band's three-year hiatus and the tragedies the members' themselves have suffered, one would be forgiven for thinking that Permalight would be a dirge of a record, one mired in weepy indie pop and bent on exorcising the ghosts of its past. But while it does exorcise those ghosts, it does it in the most defiant way possible, through bubbling synths and lyrics about love machines like on the obscenely catchy "Good Morning (The Future)," or via quietly surging lullabies like the beautifully glacial "Sleepwalker." Gone are the dreamy guitar-pop of their past and the constant Shins references - Rogue Wave have embraced electro to buff up their strikingly powerful guitar hooks, and rather than lose themselves in a fad they assimilate it flawlessly, as one listen to single "Good Morning (The Future)" quickly proves.

That's not to say that the folksy heart of Schwartz's songwriting has been subverted by mindless hooks; rather, the electronic additions to songs like the gently swelling "Fear Itself" and the jittery hooks of "Stars and Stripes" inject a whole new kind of life into the proceedings. But at the heart of it all is Schwartz's relentlessly heartening songwriting, which floats from effortless pop-rock to whispery ballads with the same ease and, more importantly, the same strength, both lyrically and musically. It's the way the gutsy bass line and ragged guitar slowly build to a hammering chorus on "Right With You," the way "I'll Never Leave You" somehow turns one of the more clichéd sentiments in rock `n roll into a heartrending promise with just a shaker, handclaps, and some beautiful harmonies, the way that every song here just seems overwhelmed with joy. It's hard to describe the perfect hook with words, but suffice it to say that nearly every song here has that sublime ability to punch one right in the aural stomach, the place directly attached to your foot-tapping and singing-in-the-shower nerves.

This isn't a perfect record, as made evident by the annoyingly repetitive title track or the way things sort of tail off by the last two songs, but it's leagues ahead of your average indie pop album, and it's certainly Rogue Wave's best effort yet. Their ability to turn what would have wrecked many bands into an unfettered success is Permalight's biggest triumph, and the listening experience is just as enticing a treat for the listener. More than anything else, though, Permalight stands out as a life-affirming testament to the human spirit, a collection of songs that come off as just so incredibly happy, so godda** upbeat, that it's impossible not to fall in love with it, with everything.

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Teenie pop quandary, March 12, 2010

By 

A. Whalen "Car Buff, Gamer, Reader, Music Fan... (Raleigh, NC, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Permalight (MP3 Download)

The Shins really went the same route with Wincing the Night Away; more of an electronic gumball pop album that seems to be about 75% mainstream pop/rock and 25% Shins. Same with Permalight. Starts OK and really fizzles out as you go through. I can barely bring myself to finish listening to the entire album. Some of these tracks are just mystifying - and not in a good way, but rather in the way that you wonder "why bother?". Now for the compulsory "I liked these guys before they were cool"; I did, my wife and I watched them opening for Shins in Norfolk about 6 years ago and bought their album afterwards (which they signed). Great, great stuff. I'm not a naysayer for Rogue Wave. Just liked the quirky instrumentals and vocals and totally absorbing rhythms earlier on a little better. You can take this with a grain of salt; the true Rogue Wave fan is nevertheless compelled to buy this album, for completeness if for no other reason! :)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Permalight - Overexposed., October 4, 2010

By 

bb - See all my reviews

This review is from: Permalight (Audio CD)

Permalight seemed too monochromatic when I first listened. Sure, "Solitary Gun" is a chugging kind of catchy, but really none of these songs stay with you. There's a thin line between filler and real content--and that's what makes Permalight so tricky: these are all good songs, no clunker. But They all straddle the line of merely good filler.

Aside from that, Rogue Wave seems to have indulged a little more of their anglophilia (you'll catch a whiff of a faux-Brit accent throughout). "Good Morning," like a lot of the album, sees RW drifting toward electro-funk with a weird 80s freak-robot-spook bridge, but the classic hooks are there. It's new for them (in a drum machine kind of way) but it works. Think of Asleep At Heaven's Gate's "Phonytown," extending its interests.

"Stars and Stripes" is Wave elvolving, but in a suitible and natural way, as in it doesn't sound contrived or forced. But the title cut is more electro-stomp 80s, which is all fine and good, but when you realize that that's the indie vogue right now, and that Rogue Wave have kind of abandoned their established (sometimes haunting) indie sound to chase it, it lets you down.

The album starts strong (I like all the first six, regardless of artistic integrity), but drifts a little from there. "Fear Itself" is unconvincing, but still musically interesting, and very catchy. The next few songs, though, reach for pop success but don't feel as rewarding as some of their previous work.

Still, Permalight closes on a strong note. "I'll Never Leave You" is softer, a throwback to old school Rogue Wave, and "You Have Boarded" is heavily vocally distorted (in a good way) British Invasion with a nice guitar lick. And then the micro-cut "All That Remains" rushes in with acoustic guitars and a born-again chorus; a fitting and quirky closer.

Overall, if you follow Rogue Wave in from Out of the Shadow, Publish My Love, and Asleep at Heaven's Gate, you may be let down. These are all solid tunes but nothing catches you quite like "Endgame," "Perfect," "Manna," or the rediculously catchy hit "Lake Michigan." It seems that RW was frustrated at never striking crosssover indie gold and Permalight could be readymade to that end. If you like the current indie retro New Wave environment, give it a try. And if you're a long time fan you should still pick it up. Just know Permalight is not transcendant.