Manchester’s Rolla kicked off their UK tour at London’s Lower Third last Wednesday to celebrate the release of their debut EP ‘Nothing Less Than Everything’.
To say anything short of a brutal onslaught developed would be tantamount to treason. As their guitars howled with a bludgeoning power and real sense of defiance grew. Death-defying and fearless, Rolla announced themselves as the next headline act powerhouse on the UK scene.
Amid what is a staunchly powerful set, ‘What Kid’ and ‘Explain Yourself To No One’ emerged as behemoth rock ‘n’ roll beasts. The early Oasis and Kasabian machinations ‘Thinking of Tomorrow’ and ‘Sweet Lullaby’ were left looking redundant by their supreme stature. The guitars had an innate ability to cause a fog, a descent into the mire where lost souls became directionless on their own intoxicating terms.
It wasn’t all just blistering psychedelia though. ‘Hey You’, indebted to the twisted funk of ‘Gravity Grave’ grooved around its ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ rhetoric with an ease that oozed a coolness we all dream of, but few possess. ‘No Violence’ showcased a more melodic cadence to the vocals and bigger key changes which conjured a freeing euphoria the set desperately needed. The set’s real point of difference comes from the new EP’s ‘When Life’s Thunder Striking’. Slower in build, and gentler in sonic, it’s a gift-wrapped ticket to the big time. Despite it being the only rest bite in the set for the crowd, they’re not letting it pass without arms aloft and larynxes left in the gutter as badges of honour.
With lucrative record deals and charting singles, a thing of the past, a band’s way out to a better life is far less likely than ever before. What Rolla proved in London is it is still a worthwhile cause. Laying your soul bare to strive for creative greatness despite the world’s race to the bottom is perhaps the only pure thing left to do, and Rolla are showing us the way.