ALBUM REVIEW: TUFT – ‘Look Look’

TUFT (formerly known as Hi Ho Silver Ho) self-released their debut LP, ‘Look Look’ on Friday 8th April. For those of you not familiar with the band, TUFT is an indie rock/pop outfit from Los Angeles, California and is comprised of Casey Trela (lead vocals, electric guitar), Kevin Manwarren (bass, backing vocals), Roxy Radulescu (electric guitar, backing vocals) and Chris Dunn (drums).

According to Trela, the album deals thematically with “a cathartic unpacking of moving into adult life — a sometimes anxious meditation on the valleys between life’s peaks”. This is a fair description of the album’s sound, something which is reminiscent of the upbeat indie rock performed by The 1975.

The album’s opening song, ‘Constant’, is a strong alt-rock symphony that not only engages the listener but also showcases the musical skills of all the band members. Trela and Radulescu’s impressive electric guitar playing, backed by a prominent percussion from drummer Chris Dunn gives the song its alternative rock tone whilst Trela’s lead vocals and the backing vocals of Radulescu and Manwarren give this rock song a more melodic and slightly-ambient sound that goes on concurrently with hard drumming and electric guitar solos.

‘What I Am Doing’ heads slightly more towards pop than rock in terms of a musical direction as displayed by the vocals in the song, which aim towards an almost ‘inspirational’ tone. Although not one of my favourite tracks on the album, I found that it displayed Radulescu’s vocals more prominently than ‘Constant’ which at times were more impressive and ear-catching than Trela’s as Radulescu’s singing style has more ‘kick-back’ effect than Trela’s vocals, which are more suited for the more rock-sounding songs on the album.

The two best tracks on the album that caught my ear from the start were ‘Stills’ and ‘Look Look’, the album’s namesake. Beginning with a catchy drum beat and dreamy guitar, Trela’s vocals soon come into play and let you drift through this beautiful blend of indie and psychedelic rock. ‘Stills’ boasts some brilliant electric guitar solos that remind me slightly of Tame Impala but probably sound more like The 1975, although the chilled out guitar playing at the end, borders on sounding like The XX. Either way, ‘Stills’ is definitely one of the album’s strongest tracks and a personal favourite. ‘Look Look’ is the only other one of the tracks on TUFT’s debut album that can really compete with ‘Stills’. The longest song on the album (at nearly seven minutes in duration) is actually one of the easiest songs on the album to just drift off and chill to. ‘Look Look’ is a relatively-long indie rock/pop ballad, heralded by Trela’s vocals and some fantastic electric guitar solos. TUFT clearly has some gifted guitarists in its ranks.

‘VCVC’ is a much more slowed-down and sombre song on the album, at least for most of the song. Most of VCVC is quite chilled and essentially led by some softer vocals from Trela and Radulescu as well as a prominent bass guitar and some interesting percussion. Near the end of VCVC takes a big rock-like twist musically however before returning to its sombre tone. Not a bad song on the album really but perhaps a bit too mellow at times.

The album’s closing song (‘Nothing’) is significantly slower than ‘VCVC’ however. The first minute of ‘Nothing’ is quiet and essentially carried by Trela’s singing before the band’s drumming and guitar-playing take over and lead into a powerful rock crescendo. This takes the song into a primarily instrumental-based sound as it winds down gradually towards its conclusion with a beautiful, indie ballad. Simply put, ‘Nothing’ is a great ending to an even greater album. TUFT really does deserve more attention as a band than the attention they currently receive.