Manchester’s Rolla recently released their debut EP ‘Nothing Less Than Everything’ via Golden Robot Records. It was recorded at the iconic Rockfield Sudios with Nick Brine (Oasis / Stone Roses) producing and Gareth Nuttall (The Lottery Winners, The K’s) mixing.
Image and artwork courtesy of Fear PR.
Recent singles ‘Ease My Mind’ and ‘Hey You’ chart a debauched course as they seek out the undiscovered. On ‘Ease My Mind’ Nick McCabe’s sense of exploration links with Serge’s sprawling dynamism on this tale of extracurriculars. While ‘Hey You’ is more nuanced, its power remains equally as feverish. Frontman James Gilmore harnesses the more melodic moments of Tm Meighan’s time in Kasabian alongside a venom not yet seen. The demonic nature of Richard Ashcroft on ‘This IS Music’ and ‘No Knock On My Door’ ooze from his soul whilst his brother Luke’s bass throbs with the grooves of criminally underrated ‘Gravity Grave’. Luke McConnell and Tom Paddon’s guitars have that hissing power of Oasis’ live presence circa 95-97 but, with the deft touches of McCabe. The latter’s influence looms much larger creatively as the band takes you on a journey without a destination to free your soul. The yelps of ‘Rolling People’, the howling furore of ‘A New Decade’, and the perilous defiance of ‘Come On’ unite on what is, as close to pure art as rock ‘n’ roll can sound.
On ‘Explain Yourself To No One’ and ‘What Kid’, they find new ways to soar. The psychedelic howl of Noel’s Union Jack guitar at Maine Road in ’95 and the venomous attitude of Ashcroft at Haigh Hall or Meighan in the 00s roars back to life on these febrile tracks. The former culminates in chest out, nose to the table set of BRMC guitars circa ‘Whatever Happened TO My Rock ‘n’ Roll’. On ‘What Kid’, Gilmore delivers a vocal to enter him into the history books as he nestles in between Tom Meighan and Peter Hayes (BRMC). This swirling cauldron of psychedelic aggression threatens to overspill into pure violence but, lyrically they embed the protagonist with heart and an underdog spirit that us mortals can live through.
Amid the chaos and rebellion, Rolla have delivered a moment of unity on the drugged-up ‘When Life’s Thunder Striking’. They tap into the soaring orchestration of their peers The Institutes on this tale of melting away from life’s pressures. As sweet as a classic Embrace single and emotive as Ashcroft on ‘Space and Time’ or ‘Weeping Willow’, they’ve given a new generation that last-minute FA Cup final winners are still a possibility.
‘Nothing Less Than Everything’ is the sound of a band who have stared mortality in the face and told it to fuck off. There’s an ease with sex, drugs, and violence not witnessed in some time flowing through them. Defiance oozes through their veins as much as their obvious talent. Strap yourselves in, it’s going to be one of hell of a joyride to those arenas!
Click the image below for tickets to their upcoming tour.
