Sunday, June 18, 2017

Royal Blood (2017) [EDIT]

One Liner: The best new rock band in the past several years.
Wikipedia Genre: Hard rock, blues rock, garage rock, stoner rock, psychedelic rock, heavy metal 
Spotify Says Similar To: Queens of the Stone Age and Kings of Leon
Home: Brighton, England

Poster Position: 6

Slot: ?

Thoughts:  I can't say enough about how excellent these dudes are.  I pimped them hard when they came to the festival in 2015.  I went and saw their show at that festival and it was perfection - heavy, crisp, crowded, fun, visceral.  Everything I want to hear in some heavy rock.  I thought they would have their new album out by now, but so far Spotify just has two new singles available, so I'm going to have to come back to this post later.  For now, click on the link above and go check out my last review, because it talked all about the one album they have, and I'll be back once they release the new stuff.  Oh, and I just re-listened to the old album, and it is still gold.

Actually, they already have a video for one of the new songs, the hit of the two, with 6.3 million streams already.  Here is "Lights Out."
That video is weird, but the song keeps them right in line with the good shit from their first album.  I still can't believe that all of that sound is made solely by a set of drums and a four string bass guitar. Makes me re-think exactly what a bass can do in the world.  I don't think I ever really understood that a bassist could go that high up on the neck and change the sound into guitar-esque stuff.  Damn, man, I already can't wait to see these guys again.

[EDIT 6/19/17] The new album is now out, and it is just as good as I expected.  A few new sounds, but they are tiny flourishes, like the falsetto "hoo hoo!" background notes in album opener "How Did We Get So Dark," but the basic crunchy, deep sound is still the same. "She's Creeping" has more of the Muse sound that they've been heading for, with a slinky funky bass thing going on for the chorus.  "Lights Out" is still the gem of the set, but "Where Are You Now," Hook Line & Sinker," and "Sleep" are also fine tracks.  More good stuff.

Recommend?  Absolutely.