Delusions of Grand Fur

Recording information: Bobby Dog's House, Brooklyn, NY; Harlan Studio, Oakland, CA.
Photographer: Matt Craven.
On LP six, Rogue Wave pick up where they left off on 2013's Nightingale Floors, blending bedroom warmth with rock-club synth pop on Delusions of Grand Fur. Though the album doesn't mark a conspicuous change in direction for the band, it does branch into the trippy ("Take It Slow," "The Last Picture Show") and the new wave-resurrecting ("What Is Left to Solve" and "Ocean"), with leader Zach Rogue calling the record "the trajectory I've always wanted for this band." Delusions of Grand Fur was notably home-recorded and produced by core members Rogue and Patrick Spurgeon, their first endeavor in unaided production dating back to the cozy lo-fi of Rogue Wave's 2003 debut, Out of the Shadow. Rogue's sweet melodies and sophisticated pop sensibilities show no signs of waning here, as the band's wistful indie rock holds at its nucleus classic, band-lush singer/songwriter fare. "In the Morning," for instance, weaves acoustic and electric guitars, breezy reverb, sprightly drums, and vocal harmonies around a tune that could be from the '60s, or '80s, or even 1930s. Balancing the album's denser moments, which crescendo with the particularly opaque "Endless Supply," are sparser tunes like the ballad "Falling," which makes due with acoustic guitars, light-handed organ tones, and textured vocal tracks. Also represented is Rogue's aptitude for sneaking relatively ambitious lyrics into easygoing rhythms ("structural weakness...faster than the Preakness"). With 12 songs that include the band's usual absence of lazy filler, Delusions of Grand Fur is a sturdy and worthwhile outing that's likely to please and impress fans. ~ Marcy Donelson