Album of the Day — September 25
Royal Blood — Royal Blood
Royal Blood — Royal Blood
25.September.2020
Royal Blood
Royal Blood
2014
A rock band can rarely offer up anything new these days. Not impossible, just rare. Royal Blood is that rare band.
As you listen to their self-titled debut, you might think they are a band the size of Led Zeppelin (a four-piece). They’re just two guys — Royal Blood is Mike Kerr (vocals, bass guitar) and Ben Thatcher (drums).
Royal Blood’s sound is built from Mike Kerr’s bass playing. Using a series of effects pedals, he makes his four-string bass sound like a six-string electric guitar.
The pair grew in West Sussex and first met in 2005 and played in a band, Flavour Country. Thatcher was on drums, and Kerr played keyboards and keytar. Let that one marinate — the keytar.
The initial line-up of Royal Blood took shape in 2011, with Kerr and original drummer Matt Swan. The two guys de-bunked for Australia and recorded an EP. The first single “Leaving” (later re-recorded and renamed “Come On Over”) got some airplay in Australia.
The duo played around Australia a little before Kerr decided to return to the UK.
Kerr then teamed back up with Thatcher, and the new Royal Blood was born.
The duo shaped their sound before eventually signing a deal with the same management company as Arctic Monkeys and Warner/Chappell Music. It wasn’t until Arctic Monkey drummer Matt Helders wore a Royal Blood t-shirt at the Glastonbury Festival in 2013 that the duo got any traction.
Kerr and Thatcher produced Royal Blood along with Tom Delgaty (Pixies) in Wales. Adhering to a strict recording method, the album was mostly recorded live with just Kerr & Thatcher. There are NO samples or overdubs on the album, and most of the songs were recorded in one take.
It’s a noticeable sound that separates Royal Blood’s sound from other rock bands.
Their debut single, “Out of the Black,” came out in November of 2013, backed with the re-worked “Come On Over.”
“Out of the Black,” with its gunshot drumming, is a snarling auditory and lyrical assault about being done wrong by your lover. This song could’ve been just another “done someone wrong” kind of rock song, but it’s anything but. As angry as it sounds, the lyrics juxtapose the hurt with a degree of sensitivity:
I got a gun for my mouth and a bullet with your name on it
But a trigger full of heartbeat pulling from an empty pocket
The song is a cathartic balance of pain and release.
Out of the Black
How did it feel when it came alive and took you
Out of the black
It broke your skin and shift through
Every part of me, every part of you
You made a fool out of me
And took the skin off my back running
So don’t breathe when I talk
’Cause your hand, it’s broke in two
I got a gun for my mouth and a bullet with your name on it
But a trigger full of heartbeat pulling from an empty pocket
I never knew why
And you didn’t care when
You closed every day
I washed away your sin
And I promised you like
You promised me
That those vows we made
We boxed them in for free
You made a fool out of me
And took the skin off my back running
So don’t breathe when I talk
’Cause your hand, it’s broke in two
I got a gun for my mouth and a bullet with your name on it
But a trigger full of heartbeat pulling from an empty pocket
You made a fool out of me
And took the skin off my back running
So don’t breathe when I talk
’Cause your hand, it’s broke in two
I got a gun for my mouth and a bullet with your name on it
But a trigger full of heartbeat pulling from an empty pocket
And it’s hard, this world
Never lets you go, deals a
The first three songs, “Out of the Black,” the re-worked “Come On Over,” and the groove-heavy “Figure It Out,” is a trifecta that shines a light on what Royal Blood is all about — just good old rock and roll.
Royal Blood has a particularly interesting sound to it, that’s equal parts Jack White, Motörhead and a dash of the heaviest of Led Zeppelin.
Released in August of 2014, both critics and the public immediately embraced both the band and the album. Also, the record was one of the fastest-selling rock albums in years; Royal Blood would top the album charts in Ireland, the UK, and Billboards Hard Rock Album Chart s well as getting nominated for a Mercury Prize.
In most English speaking countries, the album went top ten and charted strikingly well in others — a very unusual accomplishment for a rock album in an era of pop music.
CRITICS:
Harriet Gibsone at The Guardian wrote: “Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher, often referred to as a ‘power duo’ — a phrase that brings to mind dual-cleaning bog bleach as opposed to saviors of rock — were the only guitar group featured on BBC’s Sound of 2014 list. [Royal Blood] is heavy and hefty enough to crown them kings of the commercial rock scene, but then, who is going to stand in their way?”
Chris Shulz of The New Zealand Herald said: “If you thought there was a full band backing Royal Blood’s guitar-fueled ruckus, you wouldn’t be the only one. On early single Out of the Black, they came on like a current take on Led Zeppelin, mixing guitar rawk with a grunty swagger and huge, shoutable choruses.”
Scott Kerr at AllMusic: “The bludgeoning opener to Royal Blood’s self-titled debut, ‘Out of the Black’ is a riff-fueled onslaught that belies their two-piece status; with just a heavily processed bass guitar and a drum set between them, they make some four-piece rock bands look inconsequential.”
The Led Zeppelin notes you read in the reviews are noteworthy, not just because of Royal Blood’s aggressive sound, but Zep guitarist Jimmy Page is a big fan. Royal Blood won the Best British Group at the Brit Awards in 2015 — the only British rock band nominated — and was presented with the award by Page.
The band would re-pay the favor in June of 2019 when they presented Jimmy Page with the Icon Award at the Kerrang! Awards.
If you find yourself in need of a rock and roll fix as the weekend begins, you can do no better than diving into Royal Blood’s self-titled debut.