Taken as a chance to promote, and celebrate, their excellent recent EP release – Divided and Conquered – four piece “Roses in December” enter the stage tonight at Three Tanners as somewhat of returning heroes. Starting off heavy, Roses steal an early one-nil lead using parts of their rockier, more forceful, back catalogue; 2019’s ‘Bigg market’ kicks hard with strong build ups, calculated releases, and clever use of disguised social and political commentary – it’s Queens of the Stone Age with respect to its stoner rock rhythms and dark energy. “Dreamseller” and “Slaving Away” follow quickly afterwards, both moving the band into a cooler, more funkier, sound in the style of LA funk rock acts like Faith No More. Using slap bass lines and elements of 1960’s Mersey/Mod/Surf rock grooves, the band demonstrate strong musicianship and a desire to experiment musically whilst maintain consistent themes and sounds.
Maintaining their momentum, Roses play the “Divide and conquered” EP in full, showcasing a serious leap in songwriting and live performance skills since their last release. “Battleship boomer” plays strong given it’s spirited punky-Foo-fighters style and instrumental “In the Channel of a Hate Crime” does a great job of building and building a slightly scary, slightly horror sounding tune which shows off the four piece’s chops and skills.
Glam rocker “Sharks” builds nicely before set, and EP, highlight “Inferno’ rocks the Tanners to its core. Loud, orchestral, and pushing itself to be a future James Bond theme, Inferno is filled with fantastic drumming, pounding riffs and interesting arrangements – it’s a fantastic track with an equally fantastic Guns n roses elongated play out.
Slower “Self-Pollution” ends the EP playback in style before Roses bring their live show to an end. There’s some really interesting songwriting happening here, with some excellent live performance skills – as tonight proved the Roses are a unique band with a unique sound.
