I hear a lot that hear that rock \u2018n\u2019 roll is dead. I\u2019ll agree that it\u2019s hard to find anything on the radio with a guitar solo instead of electronic overdubs. But sometimes, the radio comes through, as was the case with my local alternative rock section when I caught a listen of the gritty, propulsive lead single \u201cOut Of The Black\u201d by Royal Blood off their self-titled debut. Funnily enough, this British rock duo doesn\u2019t have a guitar either. Yes, you read that right; the Brighton-based pair with a massive, almost otherworldly hard rock\/garage sound consists just of bassist\/singer Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher. Incredibly, between the two of them, they\u2019ve managed to create the sound of an entire four-piece band, all crunching drums, melodic vocals, and vigorous \u201cguitar lines.\u201d (Interestingly, what\u2019s responsible for that sound is the use of multiple amps that Kerr uses with his bass while playing, coalescing into a wall of sound out of one instrument).<\/p>\n
If I had to compare these guys to someone, I\u2019d classify Royal Blood as a mash-up of the powerful riffage of Queens Of The Stone Age with an early period Muse, infused with the bluesy yet clean White Stripes sound. But they manage to put their own spin on their amalgamation of rock\u2019s heavy hitters. <\/p>\n
They launch out with just that sort of pounding riff on \u201cOut Of The Black,\u201d which is prime single material: their dark, muscular instrumentation paired with the confident swagger of Kerr\u2019s vocals are immediately attention-grabbing. \u201cI\u2019ve got a gun for a mouth and a bullet with your name on it \/ But a trigger for a heart beating blood from an empty pocket,\u201d Kerr sings in an ever-rising, throaty wail above a thunderous cascade of drums and the devilishly full guitar sound. The duo has a perfect blend of blisteringly heavy blues rock with a melodic catchiness that almost makes me think glam in parts. <\/p>\n
On this one-two punch of a debut that clocks in just over a half hour, Royal Blood understands the impact of short but powerful song. It makes it so that they\u2019re able to keep up the apoplectic energy throughout each cut \u2013 for instance, the roiling, Matt Bellamy-esque guitar soloing and slow-burning vocals on \u201cCome On Over\u201d and \u201cFigure It Out\u201d or \u201cYou Can Be So Cruel,\u201d which sounds like Black Keys at their best. <\/p>\n
The whole disc flows by in a thundering crash, but some standouts include the Biblical barrage of \u201cBlood On My Hands\u201d (\u201cBut I\u2019ll kiss the ground where you kneel \/ Til I grow my hair to my heels,\u201d Kerr wails on the soaring chorus), the sultry intro of \u201cLoose Change\u201d in which Kerr\u2019s falsetto get tricked out with handclaps and shimmering drum syncopation, and penultimate cut \u201cTen Tonne Skeleton,\u201d a hammering clatter of squealing guitars and lovelorn lyrics. <\/p>\n
Altogether, Royal Blood<\/i> represents the arrival on the rock \u2018n\u2019 roll scene from a duo that demands to be heard. You\u2019ll enjoy the listen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":32187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[9526],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-43939","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-royal-blood","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/43939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/43939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=43939"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=43939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}