Longwave

Secrets Are Sinister

[3.5/5]

Longwave’s 2003 album The Strangest Things, a disc that meshed starry-eyed dreampop with urgent Britpop affectations, is a lost classic of the New York City rock renaissance. The group lost the plot (and eventually their record deal) after the release of 2005’s lackluster There’s A Fire, but on Sinister have rediscovered what originally made them great. Recorded with help from Peter Katis (Interpol, Denali), the album nods to Things’ lush, layered pop, while adding hefty shoegaze crunch (the hard-charging “Satellites”), kicky new-wave synths (“Eyes Like Headlights”) and diffracted drone (the M83-esque “Life Is Wrong”). The only downside is that Sinister can be a bit monotonous-but when Steve Schiltz’s voice howls and cracks with emotion on the Echo & The Bunnymen-summoning “No Direction,” Longwave’s passion rings true. (ORIGINAL SIGNAL) Annie Zaleski