On this album, that only happens once, and early on. In 'Fofteen' there is a token disco section. This alone is perhaps the first signal of how far this band have come now. The obvious references that were almost thrown at you to different musical genres, such as polka and jazz and hardcore, have now been replaced with two other things; much more intelligent, layered song writing, and a shout out to the bands that have influenced them as a group of young musicians. Botch's slow and considered methods, Dillinger's jazzy, tense moments, the cavalcade of noise ala Trencher, a few Hot Cross riffs, the crushing heaviness of The Locust and the unpredictability of Horse the Band. They're all pop in to make an appearance, but this is in fact what Rolo Tomassi as song writers have always been doing, its just the sense of humour from the glitchy synths and unexpected guitar parts have been stripped and thus, leaves us with a very dark record indeed. I believe this is the shock previous listeners will have to overcome (if they cared, that is) Rolo Tomassi are no longer a novelty, they are a serious band and on top of this, a very good one.

The real fun can begin in trying to pick out all the pretty terrifying sections on display here, of which there is a lot. There isn't really a weak track, just a couple of moments that sit a little uncomfortably in consideration of the rest of the album. But, 'I love Turbulence', 'Abraxas' and 'Scabs' are all massive songs, probably the truest show of what this band are about now, whereas 'Nine' and 'Trojan Measures' are perhaps the most difficult and insubordinate tracks on the album, it is because they are the most densely layered and perhaps least melodic, but show a shift in mood as the middle of the record gets very grim indeed.

My only issues with this album is that, perhaps, they weren't ambitious enough! What I would like to see from the second full length is a Rolo Tomassi maturing even further and forgetting/fucking the past and the hype. A Rolo Tomassi unafraid to experiment even further; perhaps with a colder, more sparse production and bigger songs. But that is not for me to say. What I am confident in saying though, on the strength of this, is that whatever this band end up doing next, I am confident they will only grow stronger, as this is by no means a perfect album, giving them so much yet to work with.