Moderate Rock

Tölva don’t quite fit in. The French quartet are, by their own admission, a post-rock band but their debut release hungrily covers ground from barely-there ambience to big riff rock’n’roll. The quiets, like the sombre and fantastically restrained ‘Puzzle’, are truly beautiful, and the louds, like the ballsy and direct ‘Renton’, have the push and poise and power of modern-era Nine Inch Nails. Even when they use all the genre trademarks and threaten to stick too close to the formula, they find a way to be bold, to make things interesting. So instead of a rote tribute to This Will Destroy You, the title track turns a slow swell into a lithe, driving, dramatic highlight. Tölva don’t quite fit in, and that’s wonderful. A fascinating beginning.