August 24th, 2014
Warner Bros Records
http://www.royalblood.com
A bit of history; Royal Blood, composed of bassist/singer Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher, was formed in Worthing, West Sussex, England in 2013. 2013, as in last year. Rarely does a band form, tour the world and release their full length debut in just over a year.
Royal Blood’s self titled debut features 10 tracks that prove modern garage rock isn’t dead. The band’s unique sound is an amalgamation of classic blues rock and the style of garage rock that I’ve not heard since Nirvana’s debut almost 25 years ago. Royal Blood pack their debut with crunching guitars and catchy hooks. The tracks seemingly written about Kerr’s life experiences with failed relationships, both personal and romantic, maintain a constant theme throughout the album.
The recording of the album was kept under strict conditions, with the band essentially recording the album with only Mike Kerr’s vocals and bass guitar and Ben Thatcher’s drum kit, with the exception of shakers and tambourines on some of the album’s tracks. Having released an EP earlier this year, 3 of the EP’s four tracks find their way onto the band’s debut album. The production of the album did not involve the use of samples or overdubbing. This means that most of the album’s material was recorded in one take and creates a more natural sound as opposed to the popular method of recording various takes and combining them in the final mix. Kerr’s vocals are clean and loud, and couple perfectly with Thatcher’s thunderous beats.
Thankfully Royal Blood took the high road while writing and recording and didn’t rely on modern recording technologies to produce and album that would have easily been passed over as generic. The lack of guitars on the album gives a more dirty, amped up feeling while listening. I didn’t know what to expect of the band, but their debut is one of the few albums released in recent memory that I can listen to all the way through.
