:: La Rocca - Sing Song Sung

La Rocca

Nowadays, it seems that you can’t be an indie guitar outfit without being compared to The Strokes, which is like comparing every high-rise building to the Empire State Building. Irish export, La Rocca, has been and will again be compared to the New York rockers but limiting critique to that simple comparison fails to acknowledge the burgeoning talent that becomes apparent after each listen of the bands debut EP, Sing, Song, Sung. The five track EP begins with two traditional indie tracks that might warrant a Strokes comparison both in terms of style and song length but of the remaining three tracks, two are La Rocca’s alone. Built a Gun and Sing Song Sung blend Nick Haworth’s synthesisers with a more traditional guitar pop sound to produce balanced but varied songs both of which are propelled by a heavy bass pedal. Just to make sure there is no misunderstanding, these are rock songs, and don’t let the synthesisers fool you. Unfortunately, Built a Gun does fail to satisfy with a pretty poor guitar solo that would be better off being masked as a riff but luckily it doesn’t really impact on the success of the song. Hiding Away, the third track on the EP slows the pace right down without slipping into a comatose rock ballad format – something that can happen easily and does to the fourth track Waiting in the Wings. Where Hiding Away brings with it a sense of individuality and a unique and understated melody Waiting in the Wings could be any band on any day. The positive is that both tracks bring to bare singer Bjorn Baillie’s raspy voice to the forefront where it can be most appreciated. The final track, Capital Pill, is the best song on the EP. The unremitting and hypnotic rhythms coupled with plucked notes on a melancholy country guitar give the song an emotive and mature sound that escalates La Rocca well past the Strokes wannabes genre. Ireland has a long tradition of producing some of the best guitar music around and La Rocca definitely have the potential to be remembered.