Norwegian pop enthusiasts Deleted Waveform Gatherings buffed off some of the eccentric electronic edges from their style on their second album, Baby Warfare, and 2009′s Ghost, She Said finds them moving even further from where they started. It’s still clear this band is in love with classic pop of the ’70s (Big Star, Badfinger) and ’80s (the dB’s, Game Theory), but on Ghost, She Said, DWG want to rock out, and they’re not the least bit shy about it. “Shaman’s Tambourine” is a credible exercise in ’70s arena rock swagger, “The Doc” and “This House” are dominated by crunchy electric guitar leads, and “Don’t Wanna Know” suggests someone in this band has been listening to the Replacements (though DWG could never sound as sloppy as the Mats no matter how hard they tried). Oyvind Holm and Hogne Galaen let their guitars do the talking with a lot more volume and attitude this time out, and bassist Robert A. Winther and drummer Freddy Bolso sound pretty happy to be able to open up and bash it out, though the band hasn’t turned its back on the more subtle side of their music. “Night Turns to Day” is a lovely, acoustic-based number with a moody organ line from Anbjorn Viem, and there’s a cool but inviting psychedelic undercurrent to “The Doorway” and “The Shadow of Your Ego.” But given the more measured pop classicism of their earlier efforts, Ghost, She Said makes it clear that Deleted Waveform Gatherings have decided it’s time to turn those amps up to 11, and they manage to fuse their sure melodic sense with a harder-edged approach that truly delivers the best of both worlds. – Mark Deming
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