Launching disparate influences as far apart as Talking Heads, The Doors, Joy Division and SWANS into each other at high speed, Yorkshire five piece Rothco put together an admirably off-kilter first swing.
With refreshingly colourful new-wave experimentation colliding with up-to-date alternative swagger, Yorkshire based quintet Rothco inject their retro inspirations with a noisy modern twist. While all five members have been around the block in their local scenes, Rothco represents an exciting and expansive new outing for them, with debut EP Fool’s Gold as the band’s bold first statement.
From the title track which introduces Fool’s Gold, their varied inspirations shine through like a neon sign on a foggy highway, creating a recognisable guideline which the listener can grab on to as a guide through the haze. From singer Josh Ingham’s moody vocal delivery which veers from moody Nick Cave style crooning to an Iggy Pop-esque wail to the stoney grunge bass line and eerie goth backing vocals, Rothco’s sound is a colourful patchwork of familiar elements wrapped up in a modern alt-rock package. Rather than simply repeating their predecessors, Rothco reinterpret and combine vintage sounds into something new and unique.
As the EP continues through its relatively brief four track runtime, more and more sounds are added to the pile, creating a diverse, if a little messy, experience. With Rothco’s new wave throwback being joined by a The Hives or The Strokes style noughties alt-rock swagger on ‘Coming In Hot’ and Slint inspired guitar textures on the slow and grim ‘You’re Not The Only One’ it remains impressive how many different genres the quintet can cover in such a short period. On the other side of the coin, this genre mixing does leave the EP feeling pretty incoherent, jumping from danceable beats to deliberately paced dirges in a way that comes across as haphazard rather than visionary.
“With a bold and confident first step Rothco bring together ideas from all across the alternative spectrum...”
Closing track ‘Jackson’ brings together many of the warring sides of Rothco’s sound into a satisfying finale which allows the band to speak with a cohesive voice. With a tight, punchy rhythm section backing frantic, noisy guitar lines and a powerful vocal performance, ‘Jackson’ throws out much of the frenetic genre mixing for a strong closing track. While at times Rothco can sound like running through an HMV and carelessly grabbing records off the shelves, ‘Jackson’ and ‘Fool’s Gold’ show what the band is capable of when they slow down and consider their choices rather than throwing everything in their basket.
While overall, Fool’s Gold can feel like a scatter gun of ideas, some of these ideas hit in exactly the right way, showing a glimpse of something exciting between the static. With a bold and confident first step, Rothco bring together ideas from all across the alternative spectrum in a way that can seem both interesting and a little chaotic.