Rocket - R Is For Rocket

The ‘90s alt-rock revival continues apace, and in Los Angeles four-piece Rocket, it has a band that does exactly what it says on the tin, all propulsive guitar lines and skyward melodies. ‘R Is for Rocket’ is an unusually assured debut album, and one that brings home the fact that this latest wave of nostalgia for alternative’s heyday is not the first time a new generation of bands have picked up the baton. It’s clear that Rocket owe as much to Silversun Pickups as they do The Smashing Pumpkins, and to latter-day Radiohead as to Sonic Youth. The most interesting moments here arise where the group allow themselves to broaden their horizons a little; opener ‘The Choice’ is beguilingly inflected with an art-rock spaciness, while ‘Another Second Chance’ is woozy and atmospheric.


Rocket’s stock in trade, though, is the kind of taut, hook-driven pop-rock that would have taken them to arenas three decades ago; ‘Act Like Your Title’ and ‘One Million’ are riff-first standouts, while ‘Pretending’ flirts thrillingly with shoegaze. Rocket wear their influences firmly on their sleeve and there are moments, particularly during the album’s back half, where the sheer poise and polish of the songs can have them veering dangerously close to being one-note; happily, the title track, with its noisy crescendo, rounds things off stylishly. There is much promise here.