Longwave
"The Strangest Things"
RCR Records
Grade: B
Bottom Line:
A little bit of Radiohead, a little bit of U2, some indie sensibilities and one rockin' musical journey.Heads up people. The New York-based band, Longwave, has come out with a new CD, "The Strangest Things." Formed during the summer of 1999, Longwave actually played a few games of "musical chairs" before getting settled into a group of musicians. Changing drummers several times, the band finally settled on Mike James, a Rochester, N.Y. boy who grew up on and loved The Doors, Kiss and David Bowie.

Frontman Steve Schiltz, also a native of Rochester, N.Y., met Mike in high school and the first time they played together, they tried to do a cover of "Black In Black." Schiltz, inspired by Springsteen, Nirvana and U2, taught himself to play the guitar his dad had bought for him and learned to write songs.

While those two were getting their groove on in Rochester, bassist Dave Marchese was busy down in Queens, N.Y. trying to keep himself in school despite constant fights and the not-so peaceful punk-rock sounds of The Clash, Ramones and The Sex Pistols.

"I grew up surrounded by hip-hop but I wasn't really interested. It just didn't speak to me the way The Clash did," he said in an interview. All the way on the West Coast, unbeknownst to the New York boys, Shannon Ferguson was a bad ass, making trouble and getting expelled from school at age eight for basically "being a pain in the arse."

Take all of this and what's the result? A great CD filled with chill, post-punk vibes of 80s indie rock mixed with a bit of angst-ridden 90s rock and the great lyrics of Schlitz himself. If you know anything about Radiohead or early U2 then you have an idea of what Longwave's sound is. Its cool, calm and individual, the perfect combination to lie back with, drink some sort of foamy latte, close your eyes and just enjoy. A nice sound, not too loud, with just enough of an upbeat tempo to counteract the relaxed, smooth sound of Steve's singing.

Some of the great songs on the CD include "The Ghosts Around You," "Everywhere You Turn," "Tidal Wave," "Exit," "Pool Song" and "Day Sleeper." Some of these are more upbeat than others but that's okay- the music is still consistently good, though a little repetitive in the tone and rhythm. Also, sometimes you can't tell if one song ended and another one began. Still, for a second CD, when very few people knew about the first one, and their big breakout onto the music scene, it is not that bad at all.

In an interview, the band made it clear that they are not looking for stardom or excessive fame. The showbiz lifestyle that many artists pine after, these boys are not actively pursuing. They are happy to have made a record that pleases not only the recording label, but themselves as well and they are just doing the one common thing all artists do, hope. "There's a lot that goes into becoming a full time professional band," said Steve. "In a way we've made the record and our job is done already and all we can do now is hope it sells enough to allow us to make another and be a full time band for as long as we want to be." I definitely suggest checking them out.



- Stefanie Tuck