Lead track 'Rat Race' is a funky, jazzy disco number that beings promisingly enough before the nagging guitar line spins itself into evermore tedious concentric circles, and the addition of scat bad be bap vocal loops only serve to make the whole thing just a bit too busy to be enjoyable. 'Jazz Hands' is also built around looped samples, with the addition of some superfluous scratching. It might have been amusing and novel once, but, y'know, Jive Bunny was a long time ago and pretty much killed the need for anything else that cobbled together big band and jazz samples.
Ok, so this is a little more sophisticated, but not much. 'Penny for the Well' is mastered much louder than the preceding tracks and boasts a phat bassline that's got some groove, but otherwise it's more of the same sample-looping. I'm sure he had fun assembling it in his laptop in his bedroom, but it doesn't translate to a fulfilling listening experience.
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Neither innovative not particularly well executed, 'Rat Race' reveals Wave Dweller to be a one-trick pony. Having exhausted his 'idea' by the end of an EP, I think he's pretty much shot his load with this.
Wave Dweller on MySpace
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