ROGUE WAVE is from the same town as MC Hammer, and they release records on Sub Pop. Their new one, Descended Like Vultures, is part classic rock harmony fest, part shoegazer death ray. I talked to Zach Rogue last week and we talked about everything but music.

Please give us a brief "State of the Nation of Rogue Wave" address...

Well, we got nailed with the whole wiretapping thing, and Stephen Colbert sure slapped us silly during that White House press corps event. But fuel prices are pretty high, so that oughta keep our detractors docile at least for a little while. Oh, and we're gonna be on tour in June and some of July.

How do Portland people usually react to your shows?

Last time we were in town, it was the first time we've ever had hecklers. We played at the Aladdin, and the place struck me as sort of like a high school gym: cavernous and a strange greenish color inside. So I mentioned this to the crowd, and some of the younger kids found this to be insulting, I guess. So, some of them started saying we sucked and it wasn't their fault that they were in high school. I think a couple of them made fun of our gear. I couldn't hear it all that well though. Hearing, that's the first thing to go. Better luck next time, I suppose.

If Rogue Wave was taking Portland on a first date what could we expect?

Well, don't expect us to pick you up at your parents' house or nothin'. They will find at least one of us cantankerous and exhausted. But once we pick you up, we will stop at the Grotto and I'll pull out a cooler that has soy-milk sundaes (with obligatory Magic Shell) and we will ponder the imponderables. We will say, "screw that" to the elevator and hang glide down the face of the cliff. But don't worry, I brought my iPod, so we can listen to music as we fly. The weather might be a little muggy, so I brought you my mom's shower cap. I knew you would dig that. Stop blushing.

Does Rogue Wave put out on first dates?

Don't you think that's a slutty thing for you to ask?