Taps nose. Pretends I’m in the know. Shshhh don’t tell anyone. I’ve found a rock n roll band in Manchester. There’s a bit of the gang about them, and they’ve got choruses that have one eye on world domination.
It’s not 1995 either. And ok, fair do’s Rolla sound a bit like some other band from up there. But if we don’t mention them, no one’s going to notice.
Last year, Rolla ended up in arenas as a guest of Kasabian. They played with Shaun Ryder and had Rolling Stone magazine tipping them as the ones most likely. So did The S*n (#NeverBuyTheSun) over here. So, look, they’re not going to give a shit what some scruffy bloke from Birmingham who is writing this on his lunch break is going to think. But we are where we are, and “Nothing Less Than Everything” is so good that if we didn’t write about it, then there’s no point in having a music website, frankly.
“What Kid” opens it up by pointing out, “You can’t live at all unless you can live fully now.” And with that, they’ve laid bare the youthful exuberance, belief, and hope that I haven’t got anymore, but they have. “Don’t even try it, honey, you’ll never be just what I am.” That’s us told.
That one’s energetic, punky, and up for a scrap. “Ease My Mind” is a little more mature, expansive, and proof that Luke McConnell and Tom Paddon are as good a guitar duo as there is. And if “Hey You” belongs to bassist Luke Gilmore, then it’s also somewhere where fans of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club back in the day need to go first.
The comparisons with the band we aren’t naming, the ones who had a war with that mock cockney middle-class Tory bunch of tits who wittered about country houses, aren’t fully accurate anyway. “When Life’s Thunder Striking” has more strings than The Verve, and as “Explain Yourself To No-one” underlines, they don’t care anyway. “I’m coming for you more than I’ve ever been,” reckons James Gilmore here, and it sounds like a promise. We’ve all been warned.
“Nothing Less Than Everything” is less an EP, more a statement. One that says: “Nice planet, we’ll take it.” Rock n rolla stars, anyone?
Rating: 9.5/10
REVIEW: NOTHING LESS THAN EVERYTHING (2023)
Published:
