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FIVES: THE BEST WONDER YEARS SONGSThis week Lansdale, Pennsylvania’s The Wonder Years released their fourth album - ‘The Greatest Generation,’ a record that sees the pop punk quintet reach their creative peak in a number of ways. With a wealth of material in their discography, Already Heard's Sean Reid and Tom Knott took on the tricky task of picking out the five best songs from The Wonder Years. Find out what we picked and let us know if you agree or disagree?
INTERVIEW: MALLORY KNOXFollowing the release of their superb 'Signals' album, Mallory Knox have certainly become ones to watch in recent months. We caught up with the band to discuss joining Search & Destroy Records, how vital the festival season and touring are, what it feels like to be a part
of the expanding British rock scene and much more.
ALREADY HEARD RECOMMENDS: OVER THE OCEANOver The Ocean have crafted a compelling, brooding record with their latest effort ‘Be Given To The Soil.’ With intense specific precision and delicate accuracy that echoes the likes of Explosions In The Sky and Sigur Ros. Jesse Hill from the band to discusses how the
album came together, the importance of precision, being compared to post-rock pioneers and more.
VERSUS: BRING ME THE HORIZON - 'THERE IS A HELL...' VS 'SEMPITERNAL'After a top ten UK album and an outstanding UK tour with festival dates on both sides of the Atlantic to follow, Bring Me The Horizon are having a fantastic 2013 and are now featured in the latest edition of "Versus." It's ‘There is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There is a Heaven, Let’s Keep it a Secret’ vs the bands latest release, 'Sempiternal.'
ALREADY HEARD TRACK GUIDE: ALEXANDER - SAY HELLOWe catch up with Newcastle Indie Rock quartet Alexander to find out more about their debut album 'Say Hello' for a “Already Heard Track Guide” feature.
INTERVIEW: TITLE FIGHTHaving briefly returned to the UK for the Hit The Deck Festival before starting a European
tour, we caught up with vocalist/bassist Ned Russin to discuss the bands progression in sound, differences between UK and US festivals, their recent split with Touché Amoré,
having friends on tour and more.
Album Review: Rolo Tomassi - Astraea
I’ve always enjoyed Rolo Tomassi. Whilst some of my friends are completely baffled by the ‘noise’ that they see me thoroughly enjoying I, well, I thoroughly enjoy it. I’ve been listening to them back since the days of ‘Film Noir’ and watching them progress with each release has been a real progressive movement whilst still retaining that sound that can only define them as Rolo Tomassi.
‘Astraea’ is further proof then that this progression between albums is a maturing and experienced one, showcasing more complexities, aggression and melodic passages in a tapestry of instruments being played to their absolute maximum by some incredibly talented musicians.
A key part of Rolo Tomassi’s sound is of course the complexly written music. The influences from mathcore and progressive music has and always will be clearly evident, with ‘Astraea’ being no stranger. The opening of ‘Echopraxia’ demonstrates this complexly written passage idea before throwing us into some fantastic riffery courtesy of new axe man Chris Cayfors, before hurling ourselves back to the brawling noise and then back to some riffs before slinking down into this sultry groove.
Eva sounds as terrifically terryfying as ever, even better so when battling with brother James. As always, the final track opens up into this ambient soundscape of absolute epic sounding proportions as Eva lets out her smooth tones for a beautiful finish. A big thank you to ‘Illuminaire’ and easily my favourite finale track the band have produced.
For myself though this album will be about the melodies. They’ve always been there, but sometimes I’ve found often too short lived. I find that ‘Astraea’ has a brilliant structure to each song, utilizing the complexities, the aggression and the melodic passages as separate sections and darting back between them all, showcasing new sections in unexpected locations so still keeping that on your toes, frantic and progressive feel that will always be my favourite part of Rolo Tomassi.
It’s so easy for me to say this is my favourite Rolo Tomassi album. ‘Astraea’ is Rolo Tomassi at their finest and I can only hope that my friends will come to understand the talent that truly lies within.
4.5/5
‘Astraea’ by Rolo Tomassi is out on the 5th November through Destination Moon.
Rolo Tomassi links: Website|Facebook|Twitter
Words by Mikey Brown (@MikeyMiracle)
