Rolo Tomassi are an experimental extreme punk band from Sheffield, England. Their name is taken from the fictional character Rollo Tomasi in the film LA Confidential. The band formed in 2005 and set their local scene alight by playing a synth driven technical mix of styles and genres difficult to define in a single word.
The band self-released their first demo shortly after forming. Shortly after the band pursued a tape release via danger!laser!phaser!razor! where only 200 copies were made. After a split EP with Mirror! Mirror! the band signed to Holy Roar records after building up a reputation for a fearsome, energetic live show.
With Holy Roar the band released their self titled EP. This EP featured re-recorded songs from previous demo's and EP's amongst newer songs. To support this EP the band toured up and down the country numerous times, mainly supporting bigger bands such as I Was A Cub Scout and 65daysofstatic.
In June 2008, Rolo played a very well received show at Download Festival. The band signed to Hassle Records, and released their debut album, entitled 'Hysterics', on 22nd September 2008.In August 2009, Rolo played at Underage Festival, which on the whole was received well by the audience.
On May 24th, 2010, Rolo Tomassi released their second album, Cosmology. The first single from the album; Party Wounds, was released on the bands MySpace a few weeks prior to Cosmology's release. In conjunction with World Record Store Day 2011, the band released an anthology entitled Eternal Youth.
The first release on their own record label named, Destination Moon. This album compiled vinyl only singles released through a yearly subscription club, b-sides, pre-Hysterics material and remixes in order to make as much as their material as possible available to all.
On August 16 2012, the band announced that their new album would be titled 'Astraea', with the UK/Europe release date set to be November 5.