Rosali - Bite Down LP

Rosali’s 2021 LP No Medium burnt its way into a permanent spot on the shop stereo rotation not long after it’s release, and a few of weeks after the release her fourth LP (her second with David Nance’s Mowed Sound crew and first for Merge) it’s clear that this one is doing the same.

Bite Down directly engages with histories of Classic Rock™ without sounding like another cheesy retro throwback band. You can hear Fleetwood Mac in there and the in the pocket grooves of Crazy Horse, and of course, the song craft of both of those bands (at once universal and specific). But at the same time if feels contemporary, with the band reaching racked underground rock moments of hot wired guitars and lurching arrangements that remind me of Philly groups like Birds of Maya or even the Strapping Fieldhands.

At a moment when rock music feels like it’s slipping into self-referential gimmick, Rosali reminds us of what actually matters: a locked in band playing killer songs!
-Mitch