3/2/07, 4:46 pm EST

Assignment Seven Finalist: Christina Poole on La Rocca

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Note: This is not an official Rolling Stone article. What follows is a submission to the “I’m From Rolling Stone” writing competition.

La Rocca

by Christina Poole
Age: 23

When community radio stations with few commercial obligations validate a pop-friendly single with heavy rotation, it’s time to take notice. La Rocca, an Irish band that shares a label and often a bill with indie darlings Silversun Pickups and Phoenix, has been anointed, poised to join the ranks of Keane and Snow Patrol as the next big thing from across the pond.

Brothers Bjorn and Simon Baillie (vocals, guitar, bass) formed La Rocca with Bjorn’s college mates Alan Redmond (drums) and Nick Haworth (vocals, keys, guitar) in 2002. La Rocca enjoyed success overseas under Irish label Wet Clay, but aspirations to work with producer Tony Hoffer (Beck, Belle and Sebastian) brought the band to La-La land. Dangerbird Records, co-owned by Hoffer’s manager, subsequently signed the group in 2004 and released their debut album The Truth in August 2006.

La Rocca (dubbed after a divey pub) has little name recognition but momentum is building. The group’s been featured on mtvU’s The Freshmen alongside countless former up-and-comers, and billing on two of Phoenix’s sold-out tours, repeat appearances at CMJ and SXSW and features on The OC and One Tree Hill haven’t been bad for business either.

So why should YOU listen? The first stateside single, ‘This Life’, could catapult the group to stardom. Daniel Lanois christened the song “a gift”; it’s a piano-heavy radio baby with mass appeal, captivating trendsetting college kids and hipsters alike with its catchy-yet-brooding lyrical style. The remainders on the album are versatile enough to keep La Rocca from one-hit-wonder-ville, but ‘This Life’ is a definite stand-out.

On it, the group ponders, “So now two years later, I’m reading some reviews in my music paper/ the future’s getting brighter/ I wonder when the days will turn from darker to lighter…”

Maybe today will be their lucky day.