Low Phase details its love phase
The Grand Rapids indie rock band explore new sonic and sentimental territory on their latest EP 'So Pretty It's Perfect'
During what is undoubtedly one of the busiest summers of his life, Caleb Waldvogel has been dead-set on meeting the challenge of a couple of big days on the calendar.
Coordinating plans for a September wedding with fiance Jenna Olson takes precedence (obviously), but the frontman of the Grand Rapids indie rock band Low Phase can breathe a sigh of relief with the release of his band’s latest EP, So Pretty It’s Perfect, out today.
The six-song EP is both a sampler of the band’s sonic evolution and a vulnerable documenting of Waldvogel’s musings on love and all of the uncertainty that can come with falling into it.
As Waldvogel and Olson began going through the process of making wedding plans, he said it actually helped him get past a mild case of writer’s block in turning the EP’s focus toward the wide spectrum of emotions associated with love and commitment.
“We started this whole wedding planning experience and while I was doing that, I guess it just kind of stretched out this whole timeline of the seven or eight years we've been together,” Waldvogel said. “That drew something out of me. So, this whole EP is kind of dedicated to the past seven or eight years with my partner and kind of dissecting all those emotions when I was 18, when we started dating, to now, when I'm 25, and all the really beautiful things, all the things that were tough, the vulnerable parts, the scary parts, the hopeless feelings you feel.”
If the words on So Pretty It’s Perfect reflect Waldvogel’s relationship journey, the music reflects the band’s continued growth, channeling a wide range of guitar-dominated indie and pop rock, with hints of shoegaze and even slowcore making its way into the release’s sonic fingerprints.
During the EP’s assembly, Waldvogel said he and his bandmates were inspired by deep dives into the catalogues of guitar-and-hook-dominated ‘90s bands like Third Eye Blind, who Low Phase will play alongside at the Dearborn Homecoming Festival in early August. Other big influences, Waldvogel said, included returns to poring over the catalogues of Oasis, Built to Spill and the Smashing Pumpkins.
"The '90s layered guitars — there's something about that that has always spoken to us,” he said. “A lot of early to late '90s bands, we were just kind of rediscovering.”
While So Pretty It’s Perfect loosely tells the story of a relationship, Low Phase’s close knit friendship dynamic dates back even further.
The foursome of Waldvogel, Marley Ferguson (guitar), John Bomer (bass) and Miles Ferguson (drums) met as teens while attending Rockford High School, eventually playing in various musical projects together. Prior to the start of Low Phase, Waldvogel, Miles Ferguson and Bomer played together in the indie folk band Political Lizard, which featured Olson as its lead singer.
Low Phase saw Waldvogel take the reins as its frontman upon its formation in 2020, taking a more straightforward, guitar-dominated rock and roll aproach. The band has tinkered with its formula in the studio with the help of Marley and Miles’ father, Joel Ferguson, the former frontman of noted Grand Rapids alternative rock band Papa Vegas, bass player for The Verve Pipe and longtime recording engineer who operates Planet Sunday Studios out of Rockford home.
The songs can be quiet and contemplative or heavy and textured, with deceptively intricate guitar work, prominently placed hooks and choruses that serve as tension releases.
EP opener Cannonball finds the band delving into slowcore/emo territory with atmospheric guitar that evokes American Football’s debut album and slowcore pioneers Codeine. On Fast Food Napkin, the band captivates with a sped up Built to Spill-esque guitar riff and a scattershot retro backbeat.
If there’s a bona fide standout on the release, it’s Reason, the band’s most fully-realized indie pop tune to date. The song is brought to life by a chugging guitar riff reminiscent of something you’d hear on a Balance and Composure release before it builds up to a chorus channeling a hook reminiscent of early 2000s alternative rock band Lifehouse in its prime.
The band also stretches into new territory on its most overt love song I Saw You First, with Waldvogel’s vulnerability front and center on a song about overcoming a fear of commitment and change in accepting you’ve found the person you want to spend your life with.
“What I was trying to do with this set of songs was to not try to filter myself at all,” Waldvogel said. “Even if I (thought) a lyric was goofy or too honest. I feel like maybe a couple years ago writing, I would try to censor myself a little bit just for the sake of dodging questions. (The songs are) supposed to kind of sometimes make you feel uncomfortable with the feeling that you're sitting in."
Being able to rely on a group of friends to help build songs around that sentiment is what makes Low Phase such a beloved project, Waldvogel said, noting that John and Miles will serve as the best men in his wedding.
“We get told all the time by our parents that we're really lucky we found each other, because we truly are best friends,” Waldvogel said. “Even if we didn't have music, we'd be together as much as we could. We also all look up to each other in different ways. It's the kind of relationship within the band, where I have weaknesses, one of them will have strengths.”
As the wide range of influences and genres Low Phase have dipped into continue to evolve, Waldvogel said it has been gratifying to see support for the band expand into new territory, most recently evidenced by the response they got at Ferndale’s emo-influenced Pug Fest.
“There's been plenty of shows that maybe we felt like, ‘Why are we on this bill?’ but there has never been an audience that made us feel like we shouldn't be there,” he said.
Low Phase will share the stage with some of its most beloved indie peers from the Grand Rapids music scene during an EP release show on Saturday, July 12 at the Pyramid Scheme. The show’s lineup includes noted Grand Rapids indie rock band PHABIES, in addition to dance rockers The Cosmoknights and Dovetail. Tickets are $22.