Home Share Tweet
Next Story RX’s new single, “Misery,” rides the emotional waves of a toxic relationship
Indie Rock Psych-Pop Singles Synth-Pop

Rogue Noise is back with first single since 2016

Release date: January 28th, 2019

Dan Ray February 9, 2019
Share Tweet
Rogue Noise is back with first single since 2016 February 9, 2019

Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).

Photo courtesy of Rogue Noise

Seattle-via-Bellingham, psych-pop project Rogue Noise is back with “Comstock Hysteria,” the duo’s first release since 2016’s “What I Breathe.” The new single follows a similar feel to “What I Breathe” but with a new, electronic bent that throws a wonderfully welcome wrench into the otherwise fairly straightforward indie-rock track.

“Comstock Hysteria” starts off with a rich drum beat, a fresh and lulling-yet-punchy guitar line, and softly droning vocals. The second verse comes in harder, with less-breathy vox and slightly harder hitting drums. Throughout the first two minutes of the track, there’s hints of electronica, especially at the drop in the middle of the second chorus, but it mostly sounds like your typical indie-rock tune imbibed with modern technology.

The bridge transforms the track with space-rock, fuzzy, funky-ass electro-beats into a distillate of noise that begs (and warrants) attention. It’s a little slice of funkadelic groove, masterfully foreshadowed by the smaller elements presented earlier in the song. It’s rare that a song reaches a climax that actually changes the intent of the musical journey, but “Comstock Hysteria” takes a soft start and turns it into a ballad of space lasers.

With lyrics like “pulled apart / fell victim to the symptoms of her failing art / I was wrong / It satisfies the vision of an ancient song,” this tune relishes in nostalgia — but not just in the words. The second verse touts whispery side layers that recall the feeling of having your college best friend murmur in your ear to down some liquid courage and go ask out that person you’ve been too afraid to approach. The whole tune revels in a 60s-esque, hopeful vibe of the future being right at your door as you finish your drink, toss your plastic cup aside, and march forward, space lasers bright behind you.

Comstock Hysteria

Comstock Hysteria
9.3

Punch

 9.4/10

Vocals

 9.2/10

Instrumentation

 9.0/10

Production

 9.4/10

Comments

Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).