Roger, Roll

Even though a new wave of shoegaze has been coursing languidly through the musical landscape, with the exception of Radiohead, it has never quite taken hold with the stereotypical mall-crawling, moneyed suburbanite crowd. Roger, Roll comes close to bridging that gap with driftily hypnotic songs and gently lilting cadences that...

By Tom Murphy

February 7, 2008

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Even though a new wave of shoegaze has been coursing languidly through the musical landscape, with the exception of Radiohead, it has never quite taken hold with the stereotypical mall-crawling, moneyed suburbanite crowd. Roger, Roll comes close to bridging that gap with driftily hypnotic songs and gently lilting cadences that sound like what Mojave 3 would be doing had it taken a step back toward its dream-pop origins rather than further evoking the spirit of the desert. Much of Roger, Roll's material conjures the sun streaming through the clouds after a mid-spring rainstorm and that ineffable sense of renewal. But there is also, in every song, the quiet intensity of ocean waves with emotional depths to match, resulting in solid pieces of heart-stirringly shimmering pop. On stage, the members of Roger, Roll (due at the Larimer Lounge this Tuesday, February 12) bring together a movingly contemplative energy with surprisingly incendiary moments. Anyone wondering about the future of indie music would do well to keep an eye on bands like Roger, Roll.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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