Review Summary: Roseville make some content.
Hailing from Fort Collins, Colorado, dreamy nugaze outfit Roseville bear striking parallels to genre darlings Gleemer both sonically and personally, with Gleemer’s frontman and songwriter Corey Coffman assuming production, engineering, mixing, and mastering duties on Roseville’s self-titled 2019 debut. Consisting of 8 oneiric pieces and running a lean 26 minutes,
Roseville offers a myriad of intriguing ideas, while unfortunately not always delivering on the promise present within its strongest moments. The record undoubtedly opens with its most impressive section; “Sick Sore”, “Lucky Cigarette”, and “Guesses” lull the listener into a blissful trance, each cut replete with floating, pillowy vocals, punchy drums, and ethereal guitar tones. While “Sick Sore” and “Guesses” are wonderful tunes, they do little to differentiate themselves from one another, making the stunning “Lucky Cigarette” the album’s clear standout. Despite entering the scene at a softer dynamic, this track immediately demonstrates an energy that seems to be missing from the rest of the tracklist, culminating in a propulsive, yet pensive album highlight.
Unfortunately,
Roseville struggles to capitalize on its strong foundation after “Guesses” fades from the speakers; the thematically linked interludes “Candles” and “Wax” would have functioned more effectively as a singular piece, and both are noticeably lacking as standalone tracks. Closer “Spiral” suffers from a similarly incomplete feeling, while the album’s longest track, “Colors”, feels strikingly bloated in comparison. Thankfully, “Sour” is able to harness the momentum from the album’s opening trio and establish itself as the back half’s clear crown jewel.
Roseville is an inconsistent debut by a clearly talented group, marred by inconsistency yet brimming with potential. Its peaks showcase the band’s creative floodgates opening and display an almost effortless mastery of songwriting, which makes its valleys all the more puzzling. Nevertheless, I believe the future is bright for Roseville, and I look forward to their next record building upon the encouraging foundation that the band has laid with their more impressive work here.
