By Bob Makin
originally published: 10/06/2023

“Frog,” a recent single and video from Asbury Park indie trio latewaves’ brand new self-titled label debut for Open Your Ears Records, is the Makin Waves Song of the Week. PHOTO BY ALI NUGENT
Asbury Park-based trio latewaves recently released their self-titled label debut for Richmond, Va.-based indie Open Your Eyes Records.
They’ll celebrate with a record release party on Oct. 27 at House of Independents in Asbury. In the meantime, let’s start the celebration with recent single/video “Frog,” dubbed the Makin Waves Song of the Week.
As the Makin Waves Song of the Week, “Frog” also can be heard between 6 and 8 p.m. on Oct.6 on “Radio Jersey” at ThePenguinRocks.com. If you miss it, you can tune in any time in the archives at The Penguin and MixCloud.
The 11-song “LATEWAVES” actually is the band’s sophomore LP.
Together since 2016, guitarist/vocalist Mike Pellegrino, drummer/vocalist Shawna Grabowski, and bassist/vocalist Howie Cohen self-released the same number of songs in 2021 with “Hell to Pay,” which was preceded by the 2017 EP, “Partied Out,” as well as several singles.
Speaking of singles, two preceded “Frog” — Italian Smokes” and “Same Air” — while the most recent one is “Plane,” featuring fellow Asbury rockers and Dimm Entertainment management mates Pollyanna.
“Latewaves sophomore record is all about accidental growth,” the band said. “We came together and put everything we had on the table. And before we started recording, we asked ourselves if there’s anything we haven’t tried yet. What came out is the collective effort of all three members digging through every crevice of their brain, inevitably creating a sonic rock ‘n’ roll journey with peaks and valleys that miraculously fit together to make our most dynamic record yet.”
The HOI hullabaloo also will feature Little Hag, Family Dinner, Charlie & Margot, and Steve Kelly. On Nov. 24, latewaves then will play at Berlin Under A in NYC with Dave Mackinder, Vinnie Caruana & Jon Simmons. Those shows will coincide with the band’s tireless national touring.
For more about latewaves, visit them online at https://www.latewaves.com and https://linktr.ee/latewaves.
Bob Makin has produced Makin Waves since 1988. Follow Makin Waves on Facebook and contact Bob at [email protected].
About the author:
New Jersey Stage is proud to be the home of Bob Makin's Makin Waves column since 2017. His Song of the Week column comes out every Friday. He also writes an Album of the Month and Interview of the Month as well.
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