File this one under: Bands I Like Who Slipped Through the Cracks. I’d heard a few tracks from Royal Blood’s self-titled debut album two years ago on the Out of the Black EP, but kept forgetting to buy the full record. I finally found it at a Target two months ago.
It’s one of the best rock records to come along in recent memory. Royal Blood is Mike Kerr on bass and vocals and Ben Thatcher on drums. That’s right, no guitar. They bring new meaning to the term “drum and bass,” because that’s all there is (apart from vocals). It’s all bass – wonderful, cranked-up, fuzzed-out, wall-flattening bass – and drums – excellent armies of Mordor-marching, Jason Bonham-honoring, avalanche-producing drums.
“Out of the Black” was their first big hit, and rightly so, as they belt out a rocker about an angry break-up. It’s a common theme on the record. The lads are angry, lonely, and frisky, but there isn’t a damn thing they can do about it except pour it all out on this record. The follow-up to the “I’m so pissed I could kill you” anthem of “Out of the Black” is “Come On Over,” in which Kerr has dropped belief in God (“I went to church and stopped believing.”) and thus the religious dogma that held him back from engaging in naughty sinful behavior. We go from bad break-up to sinful sex in the span of two songs.
“Figure It Out” has a wicked drum groove that barely touches on pop-punk as Kerr struggles to determine why his girl won’t talk about what went wrong in their relationship (“I said I’d go, ‘cause I won’t see you later and we’re not allowed to figure it out.”). It makes sense that the next song is “You Can Be So Cruel,” which has Kerr standing outside his lady’s door thinking of her (in his stalker-like eyes) loneliness and his depression.
His lady’s continued distance from him leads to more anger on “Blood Hands.” “I’ll curse the ground where you kneel till I grow my hair to my heels. Spike your water, your wine while you waste my precious time.” Kerr’s bass work on it sounds like he’s playing two guitars at once.
Kerr tries to move on to another romantic conquest on “Little Monster,” but still borders on creepy as he sings, “I’m gonna love you no matter what you say.” and “I say run little monster before you know who I am.” The song was another big hit for them, and it couldn’t miss. Thatcher’s drums are like something from a Mad Max movie and Kerr’s bass work on it is pure stoner metal.
The subject of “Little Monster” must have taken Kerr’s advice of running away, because Kerr sings about “Shouting through your letter hole like there’s nobody home.” and referring to her as an “ice queen licking on a guillotine” in “Loose Change,” which has Thatcher putting down a groove so nasty it should be twiddling its moustache.
Kerr admits he’s screwed up everything on “Careless.” “I wish I could care less, but I’m afraid I don’t. You couldn’t care less, so I guess you won’t change your mind again.” In “Ten Tonne Skeleton,” he knows his ex-girlfriend has moved on, and now he regrets the way he screwed up his chance.
The final cut is “Better Strangers,” and Kerr realizes he has to get far away from this woman before he gets flattened again (“I’m a thousand miles from danger if I make a better stranger of you.”). He repeats the word “hollow” to echo the empty feeling in his gut, but he fills it with scorching bass work.
This easily would’ve been in my top 5 records of 2014 if I’d kept track of such things then. Royal Blood were in the process of writing a new album when they toured with Foo Fighters in 2015. I hope they release it soon.
Keep your mind open.
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