Longwave

Longwave channels the low-key indie pop sound of (Sandy) Alex G and Frankie Cosmos. Bonny Doon have proven their ability to transform their complex songwriting and vivid melodies into experiences that resemble those long hours of elusive conversations we crave.

Longwave is a gently simple record but one which manages to exert an almost hypnotic pull.

What keeps Longwave's distinct improvisational character upright in the rocking chair, lost in thought instead of asleep like the cat, is a gentle melodicism and an impressionistic bent that's as pretty as it is simple. Part of that design is subtle organ, piano, slide guitar, and effects that fill in some of the space around lead guitars in broad strokes.

There’s a stark immediacy to the production on Longwave, rendering the band’s simple arrangements and basic chords without a shade of embellishment. They’d much rather use negative space than a dynamic flourish.

Longwave is more improvisational, and the results are even more spidery than before. [Jun 2018, p.109]

The Detroit quartet's debut album for Woodsist is at times striking and catchy, but also finds itself digging up the same nostalgia-seeking melodies that showed some promise from Bonny Doon to begin with.