Rolla: This Feeling Stage, Truck Festival

Manchester’s Rolla headlined This Feeling’s stage at Truck Festival two weeks ago today, and we were there to catch them.

*banner image credit: This Is Gary  

Image credit: This Is Gary  

Back in March Rolla supported Pastel on their UK tour. at the Dome in London, on a bigger stage, with a better PA, Rolla emerged from wannabes to serious contenders. Maintaining their intensity, they sounded fuller and broader, allowing more into their world of chaos.

This rich vein of form was carried into their headline slot and was a lesson to any young band watching on. The loyal, faithful got their fix, but their broader sound spread a wider net. Luck by lick, you could feel the unsuspecting inching closer, yearning to become one of the faithful.

Former single ‘Hey You’ was the finest exponent of this newfound confidence. While the mayhem of their early sound remains prominent, there’s now space for Luke McConnell and Tom Paddon’s guitars to breathe. The Nick McCabe-esque blasts from ‘Rolling People’ and the deranged glory of ‘Come On’ soared through the tent like the devil singing it’s the nature of my game.

Bassist Luke Gilmore was in fine fettle. His bass lines thundered with devastating effect on ‘We Owe You Nothing’ and throbbed with violent anticipation on ‘Hey You’. He set the tone throughout the set, allowing frontman Gilmore to bound around the stage like a loose cannon.

They professed to owe us nothing; they delivered a hell of a lot!

Image credit: This Is Gary

Rolla – The Dome, London

Manchester’s Rolla celebrated the release of their new EP ‘We Owe You Nothing’ supporting their home city peers Pastel at The Dome in London.

*Banner image credit: Gary Walker

Image credit: Gary Walker

Rolla’s appeal is an immediate one. Visceral explosions of sound have come easy to them. In 2023, they released their debut EP ‘Nothing Less Than Everything’, and they broadened their sonic universe to include the work The Verve, Stone Roses and BRMC. On record, it gave them a counterpoint to their archetypal snarling sound.

At The Dome, both sides of their arsenal came of age. The likes of ‘We Owe You Nothing’ and ‘What Kid’ retained their intensity, but their dabbling in more sonic exploration has allowed them to provide space for everything land. What was once a good right hook has become a flurry of heavyweight punches. Violent basslines, crushing drums, and psychedelic licks came the London crowd in a joyously brutal wave of destruction.  

On the EP, ‘A Beautiful Lie’ is a welcomed break from the chaotic storm they create elsewhere. On stage, it becomes another animal—an intricate and delicate psychedelic exploration mixed with angelic lullaby moments that hold crowds in awe.

Every time Rolla goes away, they come back with better songs. This time was no different, except live, where the progress is so vast it’s almost unimaginable. Pastel has opened the door for bands that thrive on all-or-nothing tropes; Rolla is the next through the door, and the world is infinitely better for it.

Rolla - We Owe You Nothing

Manchester’s Rolla are set to release their second EP ‘We Owe You Nothing’ on Friday 7th March via Run On Records.

Artwork & image courtesy of Fear PR and Mamucium Design

On their debut EP ‘Nothing Less Than Everything’, Rolla largely shed their love of early Kasabian sonically and began to venture into the expansive world of The Verve. ‘We Owe You Nothing’ witnesses a stylistic return to their early singles ‘Thinking of Tomorrow’ and ‘Sweet Lullaby’.

The EP is bookended by ‘We Owe You Nothing’ (title track) and ‘The Slide’. It's less a return to this singles and more a cataclysmic earth-shattering display of how far they’ve come as a band. The former is beset with intoxicating violence via Luke Gilmore’s destructive basslines. The nods to ‘Fuckin’ in the Bushes’ and ‘666 Conducer’ give this chaotic joyride a sense of chest-beating glory that is impossible to ignore.

Gilmore doubles down on this hypothesis ‘The Slide’. His opening bass lines alongside the backwards guitars fade into the febrile psychedelia like a dystopian nightmare induced by speed. Dank and vicious landscapes emerge around the snarling roar of frontman James Gilmore which cause unnerving wall of sound.

Elsewhere, ‘It Ain’t Easy’ continues the mayhem with basslines menacingly funking like Mani era Primal Scream and on ‘Beautify Lie’, they mercifully change track with a more simplistic Richard Ashcroft crafted melody.

Rolla are currently on tour with Pastel. Do not arrive late!

Rolla – We Owe You Nothing

Manchester’s Rolla are back with a new single ‘We Owe You Nothing’. The latest single marks a new era for the band as they sign with Run On Records (The Royston Club). Guitarist Luke McConnell has stepped up to mixing duties with Gareth Nuttall (The K’s) producing.

Image & artwork courtesy of Fear PR.

Their time on tour with Kasabian in 2023 wasn’t wasted. The intoxicating violence of their Leicester peers’ debut has been taken on board as they reimagine ‘Club Foot’ in the most visceral and violent intro of the year.

With stadiums back on the rock ‘n’ roll agenda, Rolla have announced themselves as someone to open them via Luke Gilmore’s colossal and destructive basslines. Throbbing with malicious intent, Gilmore descends to the underworld, flirting with ‘Fuckin’ in the Bushes’ and ‘666 Conducer’ along the joyride.

Guitar music is defiant mainly, but not from a position of power like this. Rolla are underdogs (for now), but they project themselves like champions. Chest-out, shoulders back, and zero fucks given! James Gilmore’s howls into the ether with devilish charm and Zeus-like authority.

There are no blueprints to rock ‘n’ roll, but ‘We Owe You Nothing’ is as good as. Hellacious and rebellious, Rolla are back and better than ever!

Rolla: Lower Third, London

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.

Rolla - Nothing Less Than Everything

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.

Rolla – Hey You

Don't wait to be found
Come along with our sound

Image and artwork courtesy of Fear PR

Manchester’s Rolla follow up on their tour with Kasabian with their new single ‘Hey You’. The single is taken from their upcoming debut EP ‘Nothing Less Than Everything’ which will be released on April 5th.

It’s bizarre how a band so seminal as The Verve have remained so uninfluential these past 15 years. Exit Calm was a fine exponent of their work in the early part of the last decade but no one else has really stood up. Like buses, two have come at once in recent times from Manchester. There’s been Pastel, who have been beautifully in tune with delicate jams of ‘Storm In Heaven’. Whereas Rolla have pulled in the power of ‘A Northern Soul’ and the sprawling melody of ‘Urban Hymns’.

If Noel Gallagher had possessed Nick McCabe’s guitar ability then ‘Hey You’ could have been the sound of the Oasis’s third album. 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.

Frontman James Gilmore harness 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’.

Rolla’s ascent to the top not only looks inevitable, it looks gloriously volatile. They throb with danger and excitement at every turn. They are reigniting the mysticism of the rock star and it’s intoxicating.

 Click here for the last remaining tickets for their UK tour: