 |
| image: gigwise.com |
I'm sure it would come as a surprise to anyone, listening to their debut effort, that Royal Blood are a mere two piece consisting of a bass guitar and a drum kit. With some of the most hard-hitting riffs of the year and a shit load of infectious choruses which work wonders alongside their dirty, rough-cut blues-rock sound; Royal Blood have quite possibly conjured up one of the most credible albums of 2014 in my humble opinion.
'Out of the Black' instantly show cases the instrumental intensity Royal Blood are capable of, despite their lack of rhythmic guitars. Not only this but Mike Kerr's vocals on the explosive chorus go down just as hard as those of a frontman who'd been at it for years. 'Come on Over' and 'Figure it Out' build on the densely packed instrumentals but in a much more energetic, metal-inspired way with relentless baselines oscillating between brash stints of percussion. 'You Can Be So Cruel' and 'Blood Hands,' however, build on the bluesier elements of the band's repertoire.
Royal Blood's earliest 2014 release, 'Little Monster,' proves to be one of the most commendable moments on the LP; with choric lyrics that prove impossible not to sing a long to and a face-melting riff running right through the bridge. It certainly went down a treat when played to hundreds of revellers packed into the NME tent at this years Leeds Festival.
'Loose Change' presents a different side to the band with a slightly hip-hop resonant drumbeat and quite a clear White Stripes influence overall, especially whilst Kerr screeches "I wanna double my money, so don't act like there's nobody home," channeling Jack White from the outset.
Royal Blood have certainly proved themselves on their debut album. From being 'the band t-shirt Matt Helders was wearing for the Arctic Monkeys's 2013 Glastonbury performance' to producing an LP in which every track soars in its own right; the two-piece prove the fact that less is most definitely more.
Royal Blood's debut album is out now. Buy it here.
No comments:
Post a Comment