Album Review: Rolo Tomassi - 'Eternal Youth'

To kick off their new record label, Rolo Tomassi have released a two disc package titled ‘Eternal Youth’ which is a collection of various b-sides, remixes and acoustic versions of the band’s own works as well as a bunch of tracks from various 7” releases. Weirdly enough, the record doesn’t really sound like a compilation album as it has a very well planned flow, almost making it seem like the songs were written to be heard together.

Disc one kicks off with Mount Celestia, a track taken from a 7” the band released in 2009, a song that contains pretty much everything we have come to expect from the band, frantic guitars, synths and electronics and Eva Spence’s powerful screams. Sticking with the same 7” release and the same amount of energy, second track Titanomachia proves why the band gained so much attention early on.

With a massive twenty-two tracks on the first disc you can kinda see why the band decided to compile these works, many fans probably don’t realize just how many splits and samplers the group have been on, and would be missing out on some of their finest tracks. Songs like The Golden Ghost, a b-side taken from the Party Wounds single, and From Ambience To Ambulance, which was originally released on a cassette, capture a raw side to the band which is a little lost on their more recent recordings.

The second disc plays home to some different renditions of Tomassi songs that will be more familiar, albeit in remixed or acoustic versions. Depending on how you feel about remixes this disc can be hit or miss as some of the versions do fall a little short or simply do nothing for the songs they are attempting to reconfigure. The acoustic version of Oh, Hello Ghost and Nine, are standouts however as they show a different side to the band and expose the finer points of their song writing. There is also a very cool cover of the Throats song Headclouds/Regin Of Low, which the band completely make into their own in a seamless way.

Whether you are a fan of Rolo Tomassi or not the enjoyment level for this release will be the same, as it not only offers up some great tracks that you may not know about and some cool alternate versions of ones you do, but it presents the songs in such away that you could consider this the group’s new album, just with a butt load of material on it.

Disc One

1. Mount Celestia
2. Titanomachia
3. Pillfox
4. The Golden Ghost
5. Jealous Bones
6. Apocalypso
7. Digital History
8. Beatrotter
9. Film Noir
10. Curby
11. Cirque Du Funk
12. Prelude
13. Seagull
14. And Then The Mannequin Spoke
15. C Is For Calculus
16. Fuck The Pleasantries Let's Rock
17. Apocalypso
18. Rock The Pleasantries Let's Fuck
19. Codes Within Codes
20. From Ambience To Ambulance
21. Hiroshima 8:16am
22. A Cosmic Accident

Disc Two 

1. Breathing Through A City...
2. The Tentatively Titled "Film Noir"
3. ...And Then The Mannequin Spoke
4. Headclouds/Reign Of Low
5. Oh, Hello Ghost (acoustic)
6. Nine (Acoustic)
7. Abraxas (remix)
8. I Love Turbulence (remix)
9. Fuck The Pleasantries, Lets Remix
10. C Is For Drowning Under Waves Of Listless Apathy (remix)
11. Beatrotter (remix)
12. Tongue In Chic
13. Fofteen (remix)
14. I Love Turbulence (remix)