So it seems that the promising debut LP Endsongs was just baby steps. Even doing extensive touring opening for the Strokes and signing to major label RCA hasn't given Longwave swelled heads or distracted them from their mission -- if this EP on indie Fenway is a relevant taster. Not only has this New York quartet improved twofold, but they also benefit from better sound/production and a heightened confidence. A review in NME described this release perfectly: "Broad sweeps of classic rock bluster and lugubrious, long-winded atmospherics." For instance, the instrumental title track shows the band in a new realm, paying skilled homage to the echoey soundscapes of vintage dream pop, sounding as big as bygone Cocteau Twins, Chapterhouse, and Nowhere Ride -- with smaller reminders of My Bloody Valentine and the same Slowdive trip Sigur Rós now plunders. But of the three tracks that feature Steve Schiltz's sturdy vocals, it's hard not to be immediately impressed with the floor-tom-pounding, fuzzed-out bass determination of the bad-tempered Everywhere You Turn, the band's most exciting ware to date. Guitars pick so fast it's like a rapid stutter, and the band hums and heaves like an overworked engine as the song threatens to lose control. Great! The more streamlined Pool Song likewise sports an instrumental bridge that doubles the volume, after a verse full of chiming guitars. And the slower State of Mind finishes things in a harsh lullaby, vaguely recalling their older U2/Radiohead roots otherwise effectively and wisely left behind here (that field is too crowded). Considering all the hoopla directed at far-less-interesting Brooklyn bands as of late, it's good to see some cream arising out of an overrated lot (save for the also great, if also less-original Interpol). Now for an LP. ~ Jack Rabid, Rovi