R Is for Rocket (album)

R Is for Rocket
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 3, 2025 (2025-10-03)
Studio
GenreAlternative Rock
Length38:19
LabelTransgressive
ProducerDesi Scaglione
Rocket chronology
Versions of You
(2023)
R Is for Rocket
(2025)

R Is for Rocket is the debut studio album by American rock band Rocket. It was released on October 3, 2025, via Transgressive in LP, cassette, CD and digital formats.[2][3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic80/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
Clash8/10[5]
DIY[6]
NME[7]
Paste7.9/10[8]

The album received a rating of 7.9 from Paste, whose reviewer Hayden Merrick called it as "a fantastically confident and truly complete debut."[8] Clash's Robin Murray noted it as "a record that blends hugely effective songwriting with wicked production values, granting their work a crisp 90s-adjacent sheen that refuses to sacrifice their raw live endeavours," which is "potent, concise, forceful, but also subtle when required" and "confident, strident guitar music".[5]

In a four-star review for NME, Spencer Hughes referred to the album as "a promising debut that does a damn good job at what it set out to do: solid songs, played loud."[7] The Fader described R Is for Rocket as "an album of ferociously defined, great guitar rock bangers."[3] Abby Jones, in her "album of the week" review for Stereogum, remarked, "You won’t find many quiet moments across R Is For Rocket, but it strikes a satisfying balance between loud and melodic, its mixes full of cathartic noise without compromising detail or vibrancy."[2]

Track listing

R Is for Rocket track listing
No.TitleLength
1."The Choice"3:24
2."Act Like Your Title"2:19
3."Crossing Fingers"3:22
4."One Million"3:47
5."Another Second Chance"5:05
6."Pretending"2:37
7."Crazy"3:14
8."Number One Fan"3:51
9."Wide Awake"4:09
10."R Is for Rocket"6:31
Total length:38:19

Personnel

Credits adapted from Bandcamp.[1]

Rocket

  • Alithea Tuttle – vocals, bass, keyboards
  • Desi Scaglione – guitar, keyboards, production, engineering, mixing
  • Baron Rinzler – guitar, keyboards
  • Cooper Ladomade – drums

Additional contributors

  • Henri Cash – additional engineering
  • Oliver Roman – additional engineering (tracks 4–7, 9)
  • Howie Weinbergmastering

Charts

Chart performance for R Is for Rocket
Chart (2025) Peak
position
UK Independent Albums Breakers (OCC)[9] 14

References

  1. ^ a b "R is for Rocket | Rocket". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on August 20, 2025. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
  2. ^ a b Jones, Abby (2025-09-30). "Album of the Week: Rocket R Is for Rocket". Stereogum. Retrieved 2025-10-04.
  3. ^ a b Wang, Steffanee (October 3, 2025). "R is for Rocket and really great guitar rock". The Fader. Retrieved 2025-10-04.
  4. ^ "Reviews for R Is For Rocket by Rocket". Metacritic. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Murray, Robin; Murray, Robin (2025-10-02). "Rocket – R Is For Rocket". Clash. Retrieved 2025-10-04.
  6. ^ Goggins, Joe (3 October 2025). "Rocket - R Is For Rocket". DIY. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  7. ^ a b Hughes, Spencer (2025-10-03). "Rocket – R Is For Rocket review: a satisfying entry in the '90s alt revival". NME. Retrieved 2025-10-04.
  8. ^ a b Merrick, Hayden (October 1, 2025). "Rocket: R is for Rocket Album Review". Paste. Retrieved 2025-10-04.
  9. ^ "Official Independent Albums Breakers Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 11, 2025.