Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – Sideways to New Italy – Album Review
by Killian Laher

One of the hotter guitar bands around is the Australian group Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever.  They are back with their second album, two years on from their debut.  They seem to have taken the mantra “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, it’s not a whole lot different to the debut.  It bursts out of the traps with the very boppy The Second of the First.  This song does everything you’d want it to, with guitar licks in all the right places.  Following on from this, Falling Thunder is full of summery, feelgood vibes with soft soothing vocals complementing the band’s guitar playing.  It’s an album full of scorching guitar work, particularly in the outros of this, She’s There and Cameo to name a few.  There are uplifting touches all over the album but special mention to the perky horns on Cars In Space, and if you need a breather they strip their sound right back on Sunglasses at the Wedding.

https://rollingblackoutscoastalfever.bandcamp.com/album/sideways-to-new-italy

It’s not all sunshine.  The comparatively relaxed Beautiful Steven ends with glorious discord, while Not Tonight opens with moody bass before collapsing into a standard RBCF ringing guitar-fest.  And if there is a problem, it’s that the album suffers a little from a lack of a variety in dynamics which can make some of the tracks seem interchangeable.  A minor complaint.  Fans who enjoyed the first album will love this.  It’s an album really not designed to resonate with a worldwide crisis but acts more as a complete and utter escape, and we all need that from time to time.

Track List – 

1. The Second of the First
2. Falling Thunder
3. She’s There
4. Beautiful Steven
5. The Only One
6. Cars In Space
7. Cameo
8. Not Tonight
9. Sunglasses at the Wedding
10. The Cool Change

Falling Thunder