Royal Blood – S/T [Alternative Rock]

Release Date August 25^th 2014

Thank God for Royal Blood! Finally, a chart topping rock band that isn’t Biffy Clyro, The Foo Fighters, or The Arctic Monkeys; despite sharing the same management as the croon-rockers from Sheffield, Royal Blood’s balls-out big riffs and stripped back approach is a far cry from songs about “cuddles in the kitchen”.

Drawing upon some of Blues Rock’s and Alt-rock’s biggest heroes; Muse, Queens of the Stone Age, early White Stripes, The Black Keys, and of course Death From Above 1979, Brightonians Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher have pissed all over claims that rock is dead with nothing more than a bass, some drums and some effects pedals.

Straight off the bat with the opener Out of the Black we’re treated to a pounding staccato intro, crooning verses, and a chorus with a riff that just won’t quit. Mike Kerr’s bass tones are rich, powerful and his instrumental chops leave no room for a guitar, it’s just not needed. It’s much the same for most of the album; big riff + big sound = FUN.

The second track, Come on Over, keeps up the pace with a blistering tap-style opening riff, and drops down to a milder verse before the infectiously catchy chorus. Mike Kerr’s polished vocals provide a nice juxtaposition to the aggressive instrumentation as he cries;

“So come on over! Yeah! Well there's no god and I don't really care!”

The catchiest song here by far is Figure it Out, as Mike’s vocal and bass melodies intertwine to create a groove so infectious you may have to listen to it in quarantine, before launching into a Songs for the Deaf inspired race to the finish. It should really come with a sticker saying “WARNING: Listening to this while driving may cause you to crash into a building, just for fun!”

Tracks like Figure it Out have the 15 year old boy in me banging his head and wetting his pants with excitement, but it’s the quieter moments on this album that showcase the band’s versatility; a difficult thing to achieve when you’re working with just two instruments. The middle of the album, with tracks You Can be so Cruel and Blood Hands, shows off the band’s dynamic ability, with drummer Ben Thatcher providing some nice lighter touches, providing moments of calm before he gets back to smashing his kit like the all mighty Thor.

There are very few bells and whistles on this album, with most of the tracks recorded in one take. The only sonic addition I’ve noticed is the sounds of coins falling at the end of Loose Change. Despite this approach the album’s production is well-polished, avoiding a lo-fidelity approached to sound a lot like Icky Thump era White Stripes on tracks like Careless, or even early CKY on Ten Tonne Skeleton.

At 32 minutes the band doesn’t beat around the bush, the album is more meat and two veg than nouvelle cuisine; “Here’s ya steak! Here’s ya fries! Shut up and eat it, quickly!” While many bands like to end an album with something a little slower or experimental, the closer on here Better Strangers, is fantastic, but it doesn’t sound like a closer. On a short album it isn’t too much of a problem, but the album does seem to finish a little abruptly, and I wonder if these two will be able to provide much in the way of variety for future releases.

Aside from being a little one-dimensional, this is a fantastic album; raw and fun from start to finish, with an aggressive, groovy sound, killer riffs and tightly wound performances which 

leave your jaw rattling around by your shoes.

[8/10]