[2] Rolo Tomassi formed in February 2005 in the town of Stocksbridge,[3] taking their name from a concept in the 1997 neo-noir film L.A.

In February and March of that year Rolo Tomassi supported Fucked Up and The Bronx in the Shred Yr Face 2 tour.

[2] Towards the end of October 2009, the band flew to Los Angeles to record their second album, in a studio which James considered "unassuming, a well hidden and fantastic place".

With a hope that Cosmology was a clear and definite progression from Hysterics[12] James Spence felt had they corrected the short-comings of their first album.

[18] Rolo Tomassi expressed interest in working with Anthony Gonzalez or Kurt Ballou respectively of M83 and Converge as producers for the third album.

[19] In an interview with Kerrang!, Eva Korman confirmed that the band were self-producing their third full-length with Hysterics producer Jason Sanderson.

[27] On 31 August Rolo Tomassi headlined the first year of Bridgwater based music festival Morbid Mash Up which featured over 20 other bands.

[29] In September and October, starting just three days after their Japanese performances Rolo Tomassi completed a 13 date tour of Australia with Australian bands Totally Unicorn, Safe Hands and Stockades.

In 2017 they had a minimal tour schedule which features appearances at the Two Thousand Trees and Tech Fest festivals in the UK also teased the unveiling of new material with a promotional website lovewillburyit.com.

[33][34] On 5 November the band released the first single from their new album "Rituals" on BBC Radio 1, with a music video accompanying it the next day.

[35][36] On 4 November Rolo Tomassi performed one headline show in London at the Borderline with support from label mates Conjurer.

[37] In December Rolo Tomassi performed their first concerts in the United States, supporting The Number Twelve Looks Like You on their Nuclear.

[38] Rolo Tomassi's fifth album Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It was released on 2 March 2018 on Holy Roar Records.

[43] On 8 September 2020, the band confirmed that they had ended their relationship with Holy Roar Records in light of allegations of sexual misconduct against the label's owner, Alex Fitzpatrick.

[49] Described as "like a polished chrome King Crimson for the 21st Century"[50] they have typically been acknowledged as being mathcore,[9][51][52] a tag which summarises the theoretical complexity of their music, such as odd time signatures like 9/8 and 13/8[53] and polyrhythmic drumming.

[60] Eva Spence's vocal style was acknowledged by Michael Wilson of the BBC as bi-polar; swapping between "fragile lullabies to blood-curdling scowls".

[62][63] Their earlier work – such as Hysterics, Cosmology and their demos and extended plays – was known for its use of jazz breakdowns and swapping chaotically between explosive mathcore, calm atmospheric experimental music and acid-jazz.

[55] The compilation album Eternal Youth by the band gave insight into their musical development since their inception in 2005 with their demos onto their latest b-side releases with Hassle records.

Their style developed further into their pop, ambient, shoegaze and space rock elements for their third album Astraea[50][65] and has been jokingly dubbed as cosmic-core.

[54] The non-album single "Old Mystics" and the song from the album "The Scales of Balance" both make reference to the "Golden Age" declared by Astraea.

[68] In contrast to the lighter tone developed on Astraea, their fourth album Grievances exhibits a more frenetic and dark composition - utilising pianos and violins for a darker atmospheric effect.

[68] Their fifth album Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It, as described by James Spence, "continues in the vein of Grievances' darkness"[36] and Crayford saw it as "more ethereal" than its predecessor.

[69] Blood Brothers, Brian Eno, Cardiacs, jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, Converge, Goldfrapp, the Dillinger Escape Plan, King Crimson, the Locust and the Mars Volta are all considered influences on Rolo Tomassi's work.

[69] Ryan Bird of Rock Sound cited At the Drive-In's album Relationship of Command as an influence on Rolo Tomassi's work, saying "opening the mainstream's mind toward fiercely confrontational, independent rock, it was unthought-of that a band like Rolo Tomassi could be successful pre-ROC [sic].

"[70] James Spence wrote a guest blog on Clash Music writing about his interest in At The Drive-in, which began with seeing the video for "One Armed Scissor": "I remember being captivated by the way they played and how much the guitarist, Omar, was freaking out.

[9] Because of the membership change and the wish to play older music at live performances, James Spence used guitar tablature and his own knowledge of the songs written to teach newer members Chris Cayford and Nathan Fairweather.

[2] In 2018 drummer Tom Pitts noted how the live shows were more unconventional and "punky" in the tempo of the gigs when he first joined in 2014, however the band in recent years is focused more precision and started playing with a clicker as he drums.