These Are Our Hands - Rotary Ten Album Review
Photo: Amy Bramall link
Album Review
Sheffield's indie scene has been making quite an impact in the last few years. The emergence of 'Reverend and the Makers', 'The Arctic Monkeys' and 'Milburn' have all had mainstream success and Rotary Ten are going to be the next to achieve it.
The four piece band release their debut album 'These Are Our Hands' next month, with a good mixture of alternative indie and slow based pop to create an indie debut packed with fancy guitar work and melodic tunes. The first single to be released 'We Travelled Without Mentioning It' is a great fast paced indie song, laced in addictive lyrics and frequent crescendos giving the band a We Are Scientists sound. The track borders on pop music, yet its complex build-up and stop start nature allows it to drift away from the genre and comes across as something rather unique.
'Stick Stick Stick' features clever drum work by the bands stickman Rory Leonard, combing dance beats and drum rolling to become the focal point of the song. Vocalist James Trafford shows a hint of Alex Turner [Arctic Monkeys] in his voice which works really well, whilst the instrumental at the end of the track is a nice send off to one of the better tracks from the album.
'Strategy' sees a different sound out of singer James Trafford from previous songs. The bass driven track shows the bands versatility from their record, choosing not to base every song around the guitar like the current indie scene. The experimental nature of Rotary Ten shines through more than ever in Strategy with it finishing in an array of fast guitar drums and bass.
'Counting at Me' is the closest the band come to sounding generic in the indie genre, whilst 'These Men Are Made Of Rust' is a lively addition to the bands catalogue of tracks has a Jack Penate feel to it, with the pace and vocals sounding similar to the London artist. 'Don't Lean On The Wires' is a nice finish to the band's debut album, the downbeat and soft nature of the song leaves you admiring their work.
Rotary Ten have created a winner here. The band's unique spin on indie music have already been noted with plaudits from newspapers and have already experienced success in Japan. Every track sounds similar but with a twist from its predecessor, meaning 'These Are Our Hands' can never become dull or stale. The album comes out Monday 2nd June, remember the date.
