Bristol band IOTA have honed an infectious alternative rock sound that fuses engaging vocals and punchy guitars with dreamy harmonies and driving rhythms.
The quintet of Jodie Robinson (vocals), Josef Parkes and Joe Dean (guitars), Sam Mattison (bass) and Thomas John (drums) met while studying in Bristol, bringing shared influences like 90s grunge and shoegaze into the mix in a sound they describe as “gritty, punchy and emotional.” And describing the IOTA sound, Jodie tells us: “If Garbage and Hole had a baby that was into grunge and shoegaze.”
Our latest taste of this is their EP Tyrants, which was finally released in November after a run of fairly bad luck involving a distributor delay and their self-built recording studio Omni Rooms burning down due to an electrical fault.
But it’s safe to say that the EP has been well worth the wait. It opens up in style with the delicious Demons, which starts with a piercing guitar lick that drops into dreamy vocals and a stabbing little bassline. It increases in intensity in an edgy chorus with enchanting vocals supported by the piercing guitars. A second chorus drops into a lighter bridge before bursting into heavier guitars and heavier vocals that bring the track to a dramatic conclusion.
That’s followed by the sumptuous Control, which opens with a rumbling bassline and vocals that quickly intensify to give us a taster of an atmospheric, singalong chorus. A second verse ends with the delightful line “Sell my soul to a poltergeist, In my mind, I suffocate,” which feeds into the full chorus. We love the way the track gradually builds, especially a layered instrumental section that gives way to a final blast of the chorus.
The pace shifts somewhat with the lively intro to Ballet Box led by a jaunty guitar riff. It drops into engaging vocals supported by a chunky bass, before a delicious guitar lick jumps in to launch us into a catchy chorus. The pace drops after the second chorus, but gradually builds with light vocals exploding into heavier screams and delicious layers of different vocals to bring the track to a superb ending.
The EP closes out with Sometimes, which starts with light vocals and guitars before bursting into the catchy lines “And I won’t make the same mistake, You see me from all sides and this time it feels right, I will stay, rest assured, I’d choose this, forever more” supported by dreamy instrumentals.
The pace picks up after the second chorus, with driving drums, heavier guitars and more intense vocals. That gives way to an atmospheric section of echoey vocals, before crushing guitar chords and heavy vocals build up to a stunning outro that’s both heavy and shoegazey. Check it out in the video here:
On the EP as a whole, Jodie tells us: “It feels great to finally have some new music out, we’ve spent a long time making music videos and writing/recording these songs and it’s been a crazy journey. We’ve had some great feedback and can’t believe we’ve been played on Radio 1!”
And if you like what you heard from the EP, then there’s plenty more to get stuck into. That includes last year’s Dreamer and their superb debut single My Enemy, which you can check out in the video here:
IOTA draw influence from the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, Bring Me The Horizon, Nirvana and PJ Harvey. And on what inspires them to write music, Jodie explains: “Usually experiences and things we feel strongly about. I like to write lyrics that I really believe and relate to rather than a load of words that sound nice.”
There’s plenty more to come from IOTA through 2023, including some exciting gigs and festival dates. And Jodie adds: “Just go and listen to our new music, watch our music videos and show us some love – we appreciate every single person that takes time to come to a gig and check out our music.”
You can follow IOTA on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
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