Rogue Wave

What's a band to do? You rode the indie wave to stardom only to find your music, and yourselves, in the middle of a Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy. Well, if you are Oakland's Rogue Wave, you just keep making good records. The quartet never hitched their star to a particular sound. Instead, they've relied on good songs to pull them out of obscurity. Permalight, their fourth record, continues in that tradition while smoothing out the edges of their sound to deliver a dozen more great tunes. But in doing so one can't help but feel they've lost part of their identity along the way. The album's title track is an incredibly catchy song that should land them some significant radio play. But it could just as easily have been a Death Cab For Cutie track after the stale production warms over its bouncy beat and singer Zach Rogue's Ben Gibbard-esque vocals. Permalight will surely win Rogue Wave new fans that the band couldn't have possibly hoped to appeal to five years ago. But in doing so they're certain to alienate long-time devotees.