Review Summary: Rolo Tomassi deliver an album of two halves.
They've not been around too long, but it would seem that Rolo Tomassi have made one hell of a start to their musical career. Their downright fierce live shows aside, the bands first EP was a sign of things to come, brutal crunching guitar noise combined with handy synth effects to create a beautiful wall of sheer noise.
Album highlight 'Abraxas' is one example of their extreme musical style. Daniel P. Carter from Radio 1's Rock Show said that this song was "lots of notes played very, very fast" and that really is the only way to accurately describe it and do it justice. It is two and a half minutes straight of head busting guitar riffs, fancy meandering interchanges, demonic howling from the petit Eva Spence and Dillinger-esque jazzy segments. The drumming is also spot on, despite being just as crazy themselves, they help to bring some order to the proceedings.
When Rolo Tomassi get it right, make no misake, they are absolutely incredible. The sheer complexity and delivery of their material makes them worthy of any of the early hype and buzz they have received. 'Abraxas', for me, is up there with anything by Dillinger, Genghis Tron or Protest the Hero. Similar album highlights 'I Love Turbulence', 'Scabs' and 'Oh Hello Ghost' share this condensed musical style, and are equally great tracks in their own right.
Youth is Rolo Tomassi's greatest asset. At this point in their career, the young Sheffield five-piece are potential personified. However, it could be argued that, on this album at least, their inexperience is their biggest flaw. 'An apology to the universe' is a minutes worth of rising synth not a million miles away from one you might find on an Enter Shikari record. Arguably, its there to break up the chaotic soundscapes that have played so far, but for me it is too uninspired to really do its job properly.
Unfortunately, filler material blues seem to grip the rest of the album. 'Nine' is a perfectly good two minute song ending in extremely long and slow paced material, and it seems even longer with the depressing build up to 'Macabre Charade' coming right on its heels. For their live sets, they sometimes play these two songs back to back, and you can literally see all the energy and rabid enthusiasm theyve built up in the crowd slowly die away. Even for a fan of the band, its nothing short of embarassing.
'Trojan Measures' is all well and good with its return to screaming, disorderly and chaotic noise, but its stay is altogether too brief at exactly one minute running time. This short musical interlude is followed by 'Everything went grey' - another three and a half minutes of what is essentially background noise.
Everything on the album seems to smack of youthful indulgence and inexperience. Perhaps i've missed the point of a band whose aim is to be as 'out there' as possible, but i am aware of their strengths, and i know they could do so much better than this if they were a little more consistent in their approach to songwriting. I think im right in saying that there really is no point in writing an album if half of it is going to be dull and uninteresting, but that is what they have done. Part of me wonders if the better half of this record would make the most epic EP ever made, but i digress.
The album as a whole, i think, finds a young Rolo Tomassi struggling for its identity. Fourteen minute long album closer 'Fantasia' seems to confirm this view - falling from one section to the next into a collapsed heap. Are they an extremely technical metal band with synthy elements? Are they a dreamy artistic noise band that fell from the mind of Noel Fielding? Are they trying to be an edgier Mars Volta?
At the moment, the Jekyll and Hyde nature of their music means it is difficult to say. For the time being its probably best to enjoy the best bits of Rolo Tomassi and politely decline the rest. For all their failings on this album, they are still an excellent band. The right tutelage could tighten them up and really make them the best they can be in terms of delivering an excellent record. Rolo Tomassi are no Dillinger-Lite, they are more than big enough to stand out on their own, and for this reason I have every faith in them. I think you should too.
Definately Buy:-
I Love Turbulence
Abraxas
If you liked those, you may well end up liking these too:-
Oh Hello Ghost
Film Noir (From the 'Rolo Tomassi' EP)
Beatrotter (Split 7" Vinyl)
*Please note:- this is my first review.... please dont flame me too much ^_^*
