Tranquillity. Sobriety. Boredom. Things you leave at the door of a Rolo Tomassi show. Maths. Prowess. Dexterity. Things that Rolo Tomassi, hailing from Sheffield, England, will use to etch their way into your soul so you never forget these other words: fun, fun, and more fun.
They get on stage at the Barfly in Camden as Justice is played in the background and present themselves; “Hello, we’re Rolo Tomassi.” If you don’t know where the name Rolo Tomassi comes from, go watch ‘L.A. Confidential’ again and you’ll figure out that the name is the reason. Literally. Rolo Tomassi is the reason why, despite the hectic time signature changes, the jarring harmonies, and the violent vocals of the pint sized behemoth which is singer Eva Spence (seriously, how can something so small produce something so loud I will never fully comprehend) and her male counterpart and keyboard player James, this music is synonymous with fun. From the word go, they set the room ablaze.
Opening with some older material from their eponymous EP but by song three they start playing songs off their debut record Hysterics. The crowd know exactly what’s going on and love every minute of it. Songs like I Love Turbulence, a personal favourite, show how they can be compared to sound scientists The Dillinger Escape Plan, but unlike them, their ingenuity proves them to be joyous. They are complex, psychotic, and jazzy because it’s what comes naturally, not because they are trying to prove a point. This is just how kids party these days. James Spence [keys] and Joseph Thorpe [guitar] taking turns in launching themselves into some good old fashioned crowd surfing. Take a song like Beatrotter: it starts out as melee of instruments and vocals battling for dominance, ends up in a semi-melodic groove savvy breakdown, and then from nowhere, it goes into something which would make Miles Davis realize that Bitches Brew could have done with some distortion.
But the thing that kills the most is the fact that Rolo Tomassi do all of these acrobatics with such nonchalance and ease, it drags you into their brand of furious fun without any expectation of having to over-analyze the meaning of why they do what they do and how they do it. Damn the modem-style-rhythm-based-avant-garde-adroit-synth-lead-punk tag you have to create so that others can understand what’s going on. Just sit back and go with it. They are tremendously amazing and make you wanna dance with the rest of them. And then out of the blue comes the most heavenly of riffs: An Apology to the Universe. Which is actually a big trick. You think it’s all nice and tender, and then they go into more of their sonic challenges like Nine and Abraxas, splitting you ears while you beg for more. After an exhaustive set, the band asks the audience which song they would rather hear as an encore, Curby or Fantasia, and then go for the former. Boy do they rock out that last song. I can’t wait for them to come back.
Rolo Tomassi on Myspace
