Photo Credit: Mitch Mosk
A fine line has to be trodden when walking across worn ground but in The Roves’ case their stripped back throwback sound of pre-Britpop indie music is one that pays off well. I first came across them when they opened for Yak in Brighton at the end of 2019, and although I barely caught any of their set it was enough for me to follow up on what they had put out so far. Their most listened to song, King of Comedy, immediately found its way onto regular rotation on my playlist, with its raw vocal delivery and pretty fucking beautiful lyrics about envy and jealousy serving as a smack round the face for me.
Their sound can most closely be compared to that of The La’s, with the song Everybody’s High, sounding eerily similar to the scousers semi-hit Feelin’. However, there are a lot worse bands to model yourself after and because of their slightly niche status The Roves’ take on this style comes across as reminiscent but still fresh.
Having listened to both of their albums it’s encouraging to see that their song writing is clearly developing and improving, and although they may not be gaining much traction at the minute, they do seem like the band whose songs you will play around friends to elicit the reaction “These songs are great, who is this?”, and if that’s not what finding new music is about then I don’t know what is.
KEY TRACK: King of Comedy – This stripped back acoustic track is a beautiful take on the themes tackled in Scorsese’s film of the same name.
FOR FANS OF: The La’s, Cast, Shed Seven
