Rolo Tomassi: Live, Nottingham Chameleon, 17th January 2010

2010-01-18 10:00:58

Could Nottingham’s Chameleon be any smaller? If ever a venue was perfect for a hardcore gig though it’s this one. A hundred ticket sell out affair. Yes, there will be sweat.
    
A surprisingly full room sees openers Guilty Parents get down and dirty with their certainly not new garage punk stylings. At times they sound a little surf and a little spazzy which is nice, but it’s a straight forward beards and check shirt young band. Their out of time playing masquerades as cool time signatures and there are an awful lot of ‘my first band’ chord progressions. The same fifty friends on Facebook telling you how ‘awesome’ you are does not a good band make. They ooze the roguish charm of a noisy three piece, nothing else.
    
Brontide's set descends into Cult Of Luna style doom
    
Holy Roar Records offer up another fresh faced trio who answer to the (terrible) name of Brontide. To open with a riff that sounds like it was lifted from a Bullet For My Valentine record is one part strange to nine parts intriguing; it just shouldn’t be heard at the Chameleon. But if people’s ears prick up then why not? It then descends into Cult of Luna style doom which is always a good thing for a heavy band. However Brontide just aren’t as clever and groundbreaking as their throwing shapes suggest, and the vacuous pentatonic guitar jangling is stuff that Hella would have laughed at and discarded without a second thought five years ago.
    
Which leaves Rolo Tomassi. The Sheffield tykes showed a lot of promise at Nottingham’s Bodega Social way back in April last year, so to play in front of a hundred people nine months later in a sweatbox should see them hungry and in their element. In short, they are. Hardcore bands live for this type of gig, and Rolo grab it by the scruff of the neck. The near 45 minute set up time thankfully proves worthwhile as the band sound incredible; absolutely crushing.
    
Eva Spence's vocals sound more and more like the end of the world is coming
    
Guitar and bass are punishing, and keyboards seem less prominent this time round. Slipping in new material early on sees a band that haven’t rested on the laurels of their impressive debut EP. The new track is ridiculous; there’s a groove here for sure but the monster riffing is abrasive and brash with Eva Spence’s vocals sounding more and more like the end of the world is coming. So, so good.
    
Sadly, her brother James’s posturing and posing is still present. He wastes no time indulging in contrived speaker climbing and his clichéd mic clutching routines are insincere to the point of contempt for the crowd‘s intelligence. The hope is that he’s not fooling anyone, but wait a minute, he clearly is! Unbelievably, the canvas bag brigade lap it up, spurring him on even more.
    
Rolo Tomassi have an elusive raw intensity that others try to emulate but can't
    
To dwell on this though is unfair as musically, the band are a whirlwind and his antics are a mere distraction away from the quality of the rest of the band. Could they do without keyboards? Hard to say. The computer game nerdiness of Abraxis points to yes, but all signs point to no on tracks where keyboards wash subtly in the background and add relevant colour to their palette.
    
The key trait and bottom line here is that elusive raw intensity that so many others try to emulate but just can’t find. Rolo Tomassi have it and are easily one of the best hardcore bands in the country along with Throats and Dead Swans, and to catch them in a room this size was quite something.
    
Review: Alex Mitchell
    
Images: Lucy Bellamy
    

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